Legends on Earth
by Kirby Oak
Summary: When Giovanni launches his newest plan for defeating Mewtwo, the results are more than expected. Can a young trainer stop him with the help of those affected by Giovanni, or will the entire Pokémon World fall to chaos? TF Fic
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or anything related in this story, except for a few original characters. If I did own Pokémon, I wouldn't have to put my stories on a Fan Fiction site.

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**Legends on Earth: Prologue

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**

"_Giovanni," _a voice said over the intercom, _"he's ready."_

"Excellent," a sinister looking man with a large build and short, brown hair said with a little smile, "I'll be right down." Getting up, he added, "Come along Persia."

A girl of about 15, who had shoulder length white hair and wore a standard black Team Rocket uniform, stood up. "Yes, Giovanni," she responded, before following him out of the office. "Giovanni, if I may ask something, why is this so important to you? This will only make him unusable to you, and the process won't cause him too much harm. So, why do it?"

"Revenge can be much more than physical pain. I want him to experience what it's like to be powerless, to be _human_." His voice grew icy when he said the last word. "Then, we'll see who the top man is. I wouldn't expect you to understand these feelings, though," he said, looking down at the girl, "They are beyond your kind."

'_You're wrong about that,'_ she thought to herself, taking her red colored eyes away from his cold glare.

They walked in silence the rest of the way, arriving at a dark lab in the basement of the facility. Persia looked around with a shiver. She had been here before. That day, when her whole life changed. And, now, she was there again, this time on the other side of the window.

"Ah, Giovanni, sir," a man wearing a lab coat and glasses said, walking over, "Everything is set up and-" He stopped, noticing Persia. "What is _that_ doing here?" he muttered disgustedly.

"Now, now, Simon, she's been with me a few years now, even before this project was started. I think she's allowed to be with me, especially on such a glorious day as this." Giovanni smiled, thinking of what would soon happen.

"Very well, sir. As I was saying," He glared at Persia, as if she was to blame for him getting off topic, "we're ready to start on your orders."

"In a moment, Simon, let me talk to him first." He walked up to a glass window on the side of the room. On the other side was a creature that was being held to another wall by shackles. The creature had the general figure of a human, but specific details were different. He had thick legs that ended in two toes, with a ball on the heel. His hands had similar balls on the tips of the three fingers per hand. His head, which came to a point at his nose, was attached to his body by a skinny neck, and some sort of tube that lead from the back of his head to his back. He was a grayish-blue everywhere except for his tail, which was a purple color. His eyes looked weak and his whole body abused. "Hello, Mewtwo." Giovanni said with a smile.

"_Giovanni,"_ Mewtwo said psychically, lifting his head weakly, _"I was wondering when you would show up to watch my torture."_

"It will be far more than torture, believe me. For you, it will be worse than death." He smirked evilly at his last statements.

"_I have overcome you before, and I will do it again."_

"Wrong!" The man's expression grew serious again. "You won't escape easily this time, and there's no boy with a pikachu to help you!" He paused, regaining his composure. "I'm surprised you're not curious as to how I even know of all this, of _you_."

"_I knew my hold over you wasn't foolproof. Perhaps I am a bit curious as to the specific details of what caused you to remember."_

"Three buffoons just looking for a paycheck. I don't know why you trusted them with such a secret."

"_They had no ill-intentions in their hearts at the time. Desperation can cause humans to do anything."_

"As you will soon find out. Activate the machine!" Giovanni looked to the scientist, Simon, who pressed a few buttons on a machine built into the same wall as the window. It hummed to life, and launched a ray towards Mewtwo. Mewtwo tried to use his powers to deflect the beam, but he was weak, and the machine had the power of two legendaries. He was overcome by the ray.

Persia looked away just as the ray hit him, resulting in a flash. When she looked back, Mewtwo wasn't there. In his place was a man wearing no clothes. He looked quite a bit like Giovanni, except younger and with dark purple hair instead of brown. Persia had to look away again.

"My God," Giovanni muttered, "he looks just like me!" Giovanni just stared at the man behind the window.

Giovanni came out of his daze when the other man spoke. "I-I-I s-see," he said shakily, not used to speaking, "S-so this… this was y-your plan."

Giovanni gave a little grunt and a smirk in reply. "Take him away," he said to two Grunts, who walked into the other room and began to remove the man from his restraints. "Now you'll feel the pains I've felt all my life!"

"Y-you bas-" He fainted before he could finish the sentence.

"Let's go, Persia." Giovanni began to walk out.

"Sir, wait!" Simon said, stopping Giovanni, "There's something you need to see."

"What is it?" he demanded, walking over to the console the scientist was sitting at.

"It seems that Mewtwo shot out a wave of psychic energy in desperation, calling all legendaries for help, a sort of 'legendary S. O. S.' if you will. There's more, though; it appears that our ray somehow combined with that wave when it was sent out," the man explained to his boss.

"Will it affect us?" Giovanni inquired.

"No, only legendary pokémon can pick up on it."

"Tell me, Simon, does that mean every legendary pokémon has just been hit with the effect of the beam?"

"It would seem that way, Sir," Simon said, looking up from the monitor.

"Very interesting," Giovanni said as he began to walk to the exit, "Come Persia, we have work to do."

"Yes, Giovanni," she said with a sigh, wishing she had never been brought into this. As she followed Giovanni out, she could feel the dark glare of Simon. She ignored it, but it still made her feel worse.

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Author's Notes: Look, I'm back. I'm sure two people might be happy. Anyways, hopefully this won't turn out like my last fic. I've had this idea for awhile and finally decided to write it. If you haven't figured out what this story is about, well that's kind of sad. Actually, two of the characters in this chapter/prologue I came up with as I was writing. Can you guess which two? Anyways, join me next time when we actually meet the main characters (that's why this is a prologue). 


	2. Mattle's Fall

A/N: I know: I suck. Get over it. :p

Disclaimer: They only wished I owned pokemon.

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**Legends on Earth: Chapter One: Mattle's Fall****

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**

It was a beautiful day just outside of Olivine City. In a little clearing in the woods, there was a boy in his early teens sleeping. He had black hair that stuck out on the sides, but was covered by a red hat with a green half-pokéball symbol in a dark part. He wore blue pants, a blue hoodie with dark short-sleeves and dark fingerless gloves. Next to him were his backpack and a sleeping pikachu.

Suddenly, a scream could be heard from above. This woke the pikachu, but the boy remained asleep. The scream got louder and louder, and Pikachu saw the form of a girl in the sky. The form kept getting bigger until, finally, she landed, right on the boy.

The girl had short reddish-brown hair, which stuck out in random directions, and gold eyes. Also, she wasn't wearing anything. "Oww…" she groaned, "What happened?" She sat up and looked down. "Oh no!" she gasped, getting off the boy, "I killed him. _I_ killed Ash Ketchum! What do I do? What do I do?!"

"Pika…"

The girl looked down at Pikachu. "Pikachu! Oh, Pikachu, what do I do?" She picked up Pikachu and started crying, "I _killed_ Ash Ketchum!"

"Ow…" she heard coming from behind her, "What happened?"

She swung around, putting down Pikachu and wiping her tears. "Y-you're alive!" She quickly hugged him, holding him as tightly as possible.

It was at this moment that they both realized she was naked. They quickly separated and Ash looked away. "Gah! Sorry, sorry, sorry," he said hurriedly, "Look, there are some pajamas in my bag. You can wear them if you want."

The girl smiled. She knew of Ash's kindness, but to actually experience it for herself was so fulfilling. She had been watching over and guideing him since both of their births. They were linked now, even in her weakened state.

Putting on the clothes she found in his bag, she tried to figure out what to do next. She knew that he could be trusted, but… She looked over at Ash, who was still turned away. She shook her head.

No! She was supposed to be his guide; she couldn't be the one to put him in danger. He would want to help her if he knew who she really was; if he knew that she was the ho-oh that he had seen through out his life.

"Thank you," she said, simply.

Ash turned around. "It's no problem. I couldn't just let you go around like that. My name's Ash, by the way. What's yours?"

She thought for a second. "Uhh… Mattle." It was a name she had heard once. Someone from the Orre region had it, or something.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Mattle. Do you need help getting into town?"

Was he really that kind that he would help her and not question the events surrounding her appearance? No, it was more than that. Their link created a mutual trust and understanding.

She knew that they would have to part ways soon. Not knowing how this would affect their link, she decided to accept his offer. She knew where she needed to go next, but she decided that delying it a little wouldn't hurt.

And so they walked into town.


	3. Sea Scape

A/N: So, somehow I managed to finish another chapter. Don't know how I was able to do that. ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, but if I did, I'd want an Eevee.

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**Legends on Earth: Chapter Two: Sea Scape**

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On the beach of Olivine City, a young trainer sat looking out at the sea. His hair was brown and flat, and it came down to about midway of his forehead. He wore a blue cap over it, though, which he had pulled down a little to shade his eyes from the sun. He wore a blue short-sleeved button down shirt that was unbuttoned over a gray long-sleeved shirt. His pants were blue cargo pants that he kept certain supplies in that he didn't want to have to get to his bag for.

An espeon came up behind him. It used its ability to read air currents in order to avoid detection by knowing where the trainer was going to look. When the time was right, it struck. Running to the side of the trainer just as he turned away, it grabbed one of his sandwiches and ran a short distance away. There, she promptly began to eat the sandwich.

When the trainer looked back and saw that his sandwich was missing, he did a quick scan of the beach. Upon seeing the espeon, he gave a small sigh and smiled.

"Es'," he called to the espeon, "I don't know why you insist on taking my food. It's not like you'd find that sort of thing in the wild."

Espeon just looked up at him, sandwich finished, and said, "Espeon?" She then walked over and laid down in front of her trainer.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he responded, reaching down and petting her, "You weren't exactly raised in the wild, were you?"

He thought back to when he had found her. It was two years ago, just before he was going to start his pokémon journey. He had been walking through the forest when he came upon her. She couldn't have been more than a few weeks old, only an eevee at the time, but she was seriously injured and unconscious. He had run her to the Pokémon Center, where he had waited all night as she was treated.

Even after being treated, she needed time to recover. He had taken her home with him and had delayed starting his journey to take care of her. At first, she seemed to be afraid of everything, but after awhile she got used to everything around her.

When she had fully recovered, he had asked her about going on his journey with him. She had hesitated, looking nervously at the pokéball he had gotten prepared. Realizing that she was afraid to go inside it, he had explained to her that she didn't need to stay in it if she didn't want to, but she would need to go in it once just to "seal the deal."

She had hesitated a little more before that look of nervousness passed and she agreed. Lightly hitting her with the front of the pokéball, he had watched as she was enveloped in energy and pulled inside. After the standard three shakes, the 'ball had settled, and he immediately picked it up and let her out. She had seemed to get through it all right, but she never went in another 'ball again.

Espeon's sudden cries brought him out of his thoughts. She was standing up, her ears and tail stiff, and was looking out at the ocean. He followed her gaze until he saw something floating out in water. He tried to figure out what it was, as it was different from the wingull and peliper that flew up during unseasonably warm weather such as what they were having. The grim realization dawned on him, though: it was a person.

Getting up quickly, he looked around to see if there was anyone around that was better qualified to help. Seeing no one, he looked back at the person who seemed to be getting further away. Making a decision, he ran down to the water and jumped in. He swam out to where she (he could now see it was a girl) was and grabbed on to her. He tried to pull her back to shore but was having trouble fighting the current while still keeping a hold on the girl.

As he got tired, he began slipping under the water. Just as he was about to go under a final time, he felt something lift him up. Looking down, he saw a chinchou supporting him; his chinchou. He could have kicked himself for not thinking to get Chinchou out to help him earlier. Luckily, Espeon was smart enough to know both to and how to release him.

Chinchou couldn't carry them both to shore alone, but he provided support as his trainer swam back to shore. On the shore, a very worried-looking Espeon greeted him.

"I'm alright," he managed to get out in between breaths, "and thank you, both."

He then got up and checked on the girl. She was luckily still breathing, but she wasn't wearing any clothes and was shivering. He brought a towel over and wrapped it around her. Looking at her, he saw that she was about a year or two younger than him and had long, silvery hair. She moved a little then opened her eyes, revealing them to be a blue color as if the sea he had just saved her from had filled them with its own color.

"W-what happened?" she said weakly.

"It's okay," he assured her, "You almost drowned, but you're safe now."

"I… B-but that's… That…" He could tell she was fading back into unconsciousness.

"Shh," he tried comforting her, "It can wait. My name's Kirby. What's yours?"

"M-my name? It's… It's L-Lugia…" She passed back out, leaving a surprised look on Kirby's face.

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A/N: I know these chapters are a little short, but if they're short I'm more likely to finish them. Also, reviews are nice because they let me know what you like (or maybe don't like) about the story. 


	4. Moonlit Talk

A/N: Thank Celebi for 45 minute free periods! I don't think I'd ever get as much done on these as I do. This chapter should be longer then the others (the last two at least). Oh, and thanks for the reviews/favorites/etc.!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, but if you've seen the previous chapters, you should know that already.

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**Legends on Earth: Chapter Three: Moonlit Talk

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**

Night had fallen in the region. The sky was clear, revealing the uncountable number of stars. There brilliance only matched by the Moon, which reflected the light of the day that had just past. Even the light of the landmark lighthouse seemed unnecessary in the moonlit waters.

Kirby was sitting in one of the pre-made campsites that were set up across the beach. In front of him were the ashy remains of fires past. He hadn't bothered making one himself because he didn't need it. The Moon provided enough light to see by, and the warm weather had continued into the night.

Espeon was lying next to him, already asleep, and Chinchou had been returned to its pokéball. He had given them a special dinner for their hard work that day; Espeon's consisting mostly of one of the cookies he had bought in town. With all that sugar inside of her, Kirby was surprised that she had gone to sleep before him.

Across from him, on the other side of the absent fire, the girl who called herself Lugia was still unconscious on the ground. He had put her on his sleeping bag and had laid a blanket on her. He couldn't carry her anywhere to get help, and he wouldn't leave her just to get it. Instead, he had decided to stay with her until she woke up, and then they could figure things out. He was watching her intently, still going over all that had happened.

'_Lugia?'_ Kirby thought to himself, _'She can't honestly think that she's Lugia, can she? Although that would explain why she was out in the middle of the ocean without any clothes. She doesn't look crazy, though; not that craziness can be judged on appearance. Still… There's something inside me that wants to believe her. How could she be Lugia, though? It makes no sense. I wish she-'_

Before he could finish his thought, Kirby noticed that the girl was stirring. He watched as she opened her eyes, revealing that beautiful shade of sea-blue. As he walked over to her, she propped herself up against one of the logs that were on their sides around the campsite to be used as benches.

"How are you feeling?" Kirby asked, kneeling down next to her.

"Better. Thank you." Her voice sounded stronger but was still quiet.

"It was no trouble," he told her, glancing over at Chinchou's pokéball. He looked back and smiled, continuing, "It's good to hear you're okay. Do you mind telling me what happened?"

She looked down and started examining her hands as if she had never seen them before. She began, in what seemed to be an even quieter voice, "I was swimming in to rest at the whirl islands when I heard something in my head. It was a call for help I think, but I'm not entirely sure." She seemed to be having trouble sorting out these memories, as if she couldn't quite understand them. "But, then… then I felt my body changing… like I was evolving; but, I don't evolve… Afterwards, I couldn't handle the pressure so I fainted. Umm… And then I woke up and saw you." She smiled up at him.

"Yea… Look, I'm sure that you probably believe that you are Lugia, but you need to try to remember the truth."

Her smile faded. "Y-you don't believe me? But- But I am Lugia; at least, I think I am… No, I _am_ Lugia! You have to believe me!" She looked at him eye to eye, a mix of fear and anger in her expression.

Something happened as Kirby looked into her sea-blue eyes, something he couldn't quite explain. It was as if he saw something behind them, not just a little girl who had almost drowned. There was something more powerful, more majestic, and not wholly human. Looking into those eyes, he realized what made them that sea-like color.

"I do believe you," he finally whispered.

"Thank you," Lugia said, looking back down at her hands. "You have no idea what I'm going through."

"I am human, you know," he said, slightly offended.

"That's not what I mean." She sighed. "Being changed – into anything – is just so hard to cope with. This body is so different, but my mind says it's mine, and I know how to use it. Then there are the strange feelings; like this one telling me I should have more layers covering me when I'm in front of you."

"Ah, that would probably be the modesty. We can get you some clothes in the morning, but all the shops are closed right now."

Lugia just nodded her head. She didn't feel like responding, not to that, at least.

Kirby sat with her in silence for a half-hour or so. They just watched the moon as it slowly rose above them.

"You'll need a name," Kirby stated, breaking the silence.

"A name? But I have a name already."

"What? 'Lugia'? I can hardly go around town calling you that. People will think that I'm crazy, or that you're crazy, or that we both are."

"But I can't just give up my name," Lugia protested, "It would be like giving in."

"'Giving in'? To what?"

"To humanity," she replied quietly, regretting that she had to say it.

"What?" Kirby was feeling a little offended again.

"Please, don't take it personally. It's just that… By changing my name, I feel like I would be admitting that I'm not going to turn back. It would be like giving up hope."

"You don't have to completely give up your name," he said, forgetting about being offended and trying to comfort her. "I just need something else to call you by, that's all. Isn't there anything else you were called when you were still a Lugia? Maybe that wouldn't seem like giving in."

"I guess that would be okay, but it's harder to remember things in this form. There may be something, though. It was a long time ago, I think, when I was still watched over by my mother. She called me something; she called me 'Aile.'"

"Aile it is, then. Okay?"

She nodded silently again, still lost in her memories.

"Well, we should get some sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow." Kirby got up and walked to the other side of the camp, where he had set up another sleeping bag. It was an extra one that he kept just in case so it wasn't as comfortable as his main one; but, under the circumstances, he could live with it.

He watched to make sure that the girl-who-was-Lugia was settled okay. When he was sure that she was, he got as comfortable as he could and prepared to go to sleep. Looking over again at the girl, who was now sleeping fairly peacefully, he smiled.

"Goodnight… Aile," he whispered, before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

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A/N: Anyone want to guess where I got that name from? Also, Review! 


	5. Mattle DamAsh

A/N: Thanks again for the reviews and such. Hope you like this chapter. From this point on, I'll mostly be using the "human" names for them. Hope that's okay with everyone.

Disclaimer: In no way could I own Pokémon.

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**Legends on Earth: Chapter Four: Mattle DamAsh

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**

Mattle woke up just as the sun was creeping in the window. She looked around the Pokémon Center's hotel-like room that she and Ash were sharing. As she got up, she saw that Ash and Pikachu were still asleep. Walking quietly, so as not to wake them, she made her way to the other side of the room where the connecting bathroom was. As she was about to open the door, she heard something behind her. Looking back she saw Pikachu standing there with a smile.

"Chaa!" Pikachu said cheerfully.

"Shh! Be quiet Pikachu!" she whispered.

"Pika?"

"Just, go back to sleep, okay?" Mattle said as she went into the bathroom and closed the door. Inside, she changed into the new clothes that Ash had bought for her. She now wore a knee-length yellow-gold skirt and a light green T-shirt. Ash had told her that the clothes brought out her eyes, which produced an odd burning feeling in her cheeks. She wasn't sure why that had happened, but she trusted Ash's opinion so she got the clothes. Returning to the main room, she was surprised to see Ash standing there.

"Well you're up early," he said with a smile. "When Pikachu woke me up and I saw that you weren't in your bed, I was almost afraid something had happened to you."

"Thank you, but I'm okay."

"I can see that. So, you want to get breakfast or something?"

Mattle hesitated. She was afraid that if she stayed with Ash too long, she wouldn't want to leave him.

"You don't want to be with me, do you?" Ash asked before she had a chance to respond.

"No, it's not that!" she replied anxiously, "It's just that…"

"What?"

"I… I don't want you to get hurt." Mattle looked down, her eyes watering.

Ash laughed. "Now, why would I get hurt?"

"Because that's what you do. You run in to help not caring about what happens to yourself. That aspect of your personality is admirable, but it's what gets you in danger. I can't be the one to put you in that danger." The water in her eyes was beginning to form into tears. She didn't want to cry. She wanted to show Ash that she was as brave as he was, but her emotions were harder to control in her new body.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about." Ash couldn't understand why she was so emotional.

"Ash… there's something I need to tell you," she said quietly, making up her mind, "You know that ho-oh you saw when you first started your pokémon journey?"

"Hey! How can you know that?! Have you been stalking me?!" Ash's voice was getting louder which was making Mattle feel worse.

She pushed back her tears and responded, "No! Ash, look in your heart. Can't you tell? Can't you tell who I am?"

"What do you mean?"

"Please, Ash, just do it." She looked into his dark eyes and hoped he would understand.

"Alright, if you insist," Ash said.

He closed his eyes and started to think. His thoughts ended up on Ho-oh and the feeling he got when he saw it. Opening his eyes, he looked into hers, which were red from her trying to wipe away the tears before they could fall. Looking into those eyes, he got that same feeling. Although he didn't understand what it was, he knew what it meant.

"Wait, so _you're_ Ho-oh?" he said in shock.

"In the human flesh, unfortunately." Mattle replied, putting on a weak smile.

"But… But how?"

"I'm not really sure. I was flying around when I heard a psychic call in my head. I think it was Mewtwo."

"Mewtwo? Why was he contacting you?"

"He was asking for help. I'm not sure what trouble he was in, but I know it must have been pretty bad for him to actually ask for help." She looked worried at the thought.

"Then what happened?" Ash pressed.

"Then I felt my body changing. When it was done, I realized that I was falling."

"So you have no idea what caused it?"

She shook her head. "No, but it must have something to do with Mewtwo."

"Do you think Mewtwo was the one who turned you into a person?"

"I don't think so. He wouldn't have any reason to, and I don't think he has the ability to be able to do that."

"So, what do we do now?" Ash inquired.

"'We'? _We_ don't do anything. _You_ go back on your journey, and _I_ try to find Mewtwo and figure out how to change back," Mattle practically shouted.

"I'm not going to let you go and face unknown dangers alone."

"Pi-ka," Pikachu said in agreement.

"No, I've already told you, I won't be- I can't be the one responsible if something happens to you. I'm supposed to protect you and guide you the right way. I'd be going against all of that if I led you into danger." She was shaking all over, trying not to cry.

"If there's really no way to convince you…"

Mattle shook her head.

"Alright, I guess I'll just have to trust that you'll be okay." He hugged her and then said, "Now, how about we have some breakfast. I'm starving!"

She smiled and nodded. "Yes, that would be nice."

Ash threw on his hoodie and put his hat on. Pikachu climbed up on top of his shoulder. Then, they left the room and headed to the lounge area of the Pokécenter.

**(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)**

In the bushes outside of the Pokémon Center, there were two people and a meowth. They were all asleep in various positions. One person was a guy who had eye-length blue hair. The other was a girl who had very long red hair that stuck out in one direction and ended in a curl. They wore matching white uniforms with a big red "R" on the front.

The girl was the first to wake up. Getting up, she blinked a couple times before turning back to the other two. "Get up!" she called to them.

The meowth just rolled over and the guy muttered in his sleep, "No, Mother, I don't know how Jessibelle ended up in the lake…"

The girl grew angry with the two. "I said, 'GET UP!'!!!!" She hit them both on the head, hard.

"Ow! That hurt, Jessie!" the guy said, rubbing his head.

"That's because it was _supposed_ to hurt, James." Jessie said angrily.

"Why'd ya get us up so early anyway, Jess'?" Meowth asked with a yawn.

"We need to make sure we don't miss that girl we saw with the twerp last night," Jessie explained.

"Why?"

"Because the boss told us to."

"I know that," James said back, "but why does the boss want us to watch some girl?"

"Dey mus' be pretty impoitant," Meowth answered, "like some big enemy of da boss's or sometin."

"If she is so important, why doesn't he just have her captured? That seems like it would easier," James said, setting up their pathetic breakfast on a small picnic blanket.

"I'm sure he wants to capture her, but he needs to get ready first. Until then, we're here to keep track of her," Jessie said matter-of-factly.

"'Ay, I've got an idea," Meowth said, biting into a cracker, "'Ow abouts we go an' capture 'er?"

"What?" Jessie and James said together.

"Tink about it. Wouldn't it be great if we walked into da boss's office wit' da girl in tow. We'd probably all get promotions."

"Yay! Promotions! Money! Respect!" they all cheered together.

"Look, there they are now!" James pointed to where Ash and Mattle were coming out of the Pokécenter.

"Let's get 'er!" Meowth said as they all emerged from the bushes.

Mattle, noticing Team Rocket, said, "Ash, isn't that Team Rocket?"

Ash looked over. "What are you guys doing here?"

"You already know us but prepare for trouble, none the less!"

"Though, we aren't here for Pikachu, I confess!"

"An evil as old as the galaxy…"

"…sent here to fulfill our destiny!"

"Meowth, dat's me!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"And Meowth are the names!"

"Anywhere there's peace in the universe..."

"Team Rocket..."

"...Will be there..."

"To make everything worse!"

"Wobbuffet!"

"What do you want?" Mattle asked.

"And what do you mean you aren't here for Pikachu?" Ash asked. "You're always here for Pikachu."

"Not this time, twerp," James responded, "We're here for the girl."

"What?" Mattle looked confused.

"Why do you want H-" Ash caught himself before he said Ho-oh, "-er?"

Jessie was getting tired of all this. "Enough talking! Just hand her over, twerp!"

"There's no way! Pikachu, thunder!"

Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder. "Pi…ka…chu!" it shouted as it released the electrical energy stored in its cheeks. Hitting Team Rocket dead on, the electrical blast caused a large explosion. Team Rocket was sent flying high in the air.

"This is what we get for being ambitious!" Jessie shouted.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They all shouted. A final twinkle indicated their complete disappearance.

"Well, that certainly doesn't help my fear of you being alone," Ash told Mattle.

"I'll be okay," Mattle assured him.

"How can you be sure?"

"I just have… a feeling."

They looked into each other's eyes. The link between them comforted them both.

Ash sighed. "I don't like this, but I guess I should respect your wishes."

Mattle nodded. "Thank you."

"No, I should thank you," Ash said, smiling when he saw her questioning look, "For watching over me."

Mattle felt that burning feeling in her cheeks again. She looked down, afraid of what was coming next.

"It's okay to say goodbye," Ash comforted her, "Especially because we both know that we'll see each other again."

His confidence helped her. She looked back up and smiled. "You're right," she told him, "I'll see you again."

"Yup," he responded, giving a nod, "See you later."

With that, they walked off in oppisite directions. Mattle felt sad and a little scared to leave Ash. She knew, though, that they would both be okay. The link between them would stretch to the far reaches of the Earth.

* * *

Review! 


	6. Shopin' Distress

A/N: Yes, I know it's been awhile. You may just have to live with it since it could happen again. Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pocket Monsters.

* * *

**Legends on Earth: Chapter Five: Shopin' Distress**

* * *

Kirby hadn't realized how late he had stayed up until he woke up. He was just settling in a dream about a genie and some sort of twisting ladder. He didn't really understand it, but at least it wasn't a nightmare after all he went through. He started feeling like he was being shaken. He woke up and opened his eyes with some irritation. He saw Espeon nudging him, looking for her breakfast.

"Eeesss'," he moaned, "it's too early." He pulled the cover over his eyes to block out the light.

"The sun is already halfway to its highpoint," the girl, Aile, told him.

"What?" he asked, too tired to figure out the conversion from the lugia's measure of time.

Espeon walked over to Kirby's pile of stuff. She grabbed his pokégear from the pile in her mouth and brought it over to him. Pulling back the covers, she showed it to him. It took a little while for his eyes to adjust, but when they did he read the time.

"9:45?" he said, sitting up, "How did that happen? I'm guessing you're pretty hungry then, huh Es'?"

"Es, Es-pe," she said nodding.

"Alright; just hold on a sec'." Kirby got up and walked over to his stuff. Rummaging around in it, he pulled out a box.

"What's in there?" Aile asked, peering over his shoulder.

"Biscuits; that sound good to you?"

"To me?"

"Yeah, I'm assuming you need to eat. I don't know when you last ate as a lugia, but I know you haven't eaten as a human," he explained, turning to face her, "And you've been a human for almost a day."

"Uh, yeah, I guess I am hungry," she said, feeling her stomach grumbling.

"Good. Biscuits it is then!"

He opened up the box and set it on the ground. Espeon immediately ran over and grabbed a biscuit from the box. Taking it to Kirby's sleeping bag, she set it down and started to eat it.

"Help yourself," Kirby said with a sigh, watching Espeon eat.

Kirby grabbed a biscuit for himself. Sitting on a log, he started eating. He watched as Aile tentatively picked up a biscuit out of the box. She looked it over, examining it closely. She even sniffed it a couple times.

"It won't hurt you," Kirby told her.

She looked over at him and asked, "You wouldn't happen to have any fish?"

"I'm sorry to say that I'm fresh out," he responded with a smile, "Just try it."

She looked back at the biscuit in her hand. Taking one more smell, she bit off a tiny bit of it. She chewed on it for a little while as she judged it.

Kirby waited until she had swallowed before asking, "Well?"

"What?"

"How was it?"

"It's a little bland," Aile responded.

"Bland, you say? What is it, not salty enough?" he joked.

"Huh?" She looked confused at the remark.

"Nothing. At least you'll eat it, right?"

Aile nodded and finished the biscuit. She grabbed another from the box and was about to eat it but had a second thought. Looking over at Kirby, she asked, "Do you mind?"

"Of course not," Kirby told her, "Go right ahead."

She started eating it, a little slower this time. Sitting down next to Kirby, she sighed. "So, what do we do next?" she asked worriedly.

"Well, first we get you some clothes."

She smiled a little. "Then what?"

"Umm… I'm not really sure."

"Oh…" Aile said, looking down. She seemed like she was going to cry.

Not sure what else to do, Kirby put his arm around her and said, "We'll figure something out. Don't worry. You can travel with me for awhile and we'll try to come up with something."

"That doesn't sound very promising," she muttered.

"I know, but I'm tired right now and can't come up with anything better. Look, Aile, just believe me when I say that you'll be okay," he reassured her.

"I do, but will I be okay as a human or okay as a lugia?"

"We'll find out what happened to you and how to fix it; we just need to find a lead. For now though, let's get you some clothes. I saw a shop further up the beach. Let's go."

They packed up their stuff to leave. More accurately, _Kirby_ packed up _his_ stuff. Espeon and Aile mostly just watched. Kirby rolled up the sleeping bags and put them away. He then grabbed the usual supplies and put them in his pockets. These included his pokégear, empty pokéballs, his wallet, and a super potion, just in case. The pokégear was the default black color since he didn't want to bother getting a colored shell for it. His wallet featured some generalized stats on the three Kanto starters that were more for show then actual reference. It was really for little kids, but Kirby kept it because it worked.

Putting on his backpack, Kirby said, "Okay, all set. You guys ready?"

"As much as I can be," Aile said, while Espeon just ran up to Kirby in response.

"Then let's head to the shop."

They started walking along the beach. They were heading in the direction of town, but the shop was closer to the beach than the city. As they walked, they decided to talk.

"So, what about you?" Aile asked Kirby.

"What about me?"

"Well, I feel like I don't know anything about you. Where do you come from? What have you done before? Stuff like that."

"If you're really that curious, I guess I'll tell you," he began with an intrigued smile. "I grew up just south of the gym in Cerulean City. I started my journey when I was almost eleven with Espeon here. Because I started late in the season, it would have been too hard to catch up in the Indigo League. Instead, I went to the Orange Islands to compete there. I managed to make it to the championship, but I only got to the second round. After that I went back home for a little bit to rest. Then I went to New Bark Town so I could register for the league here. I've been competing at the gyms here, since."

"That's nice," Aile said with some distraction.

"Well if you aren't that interested…"

"No, it's just that, I really don't understand most of what you just said. All I got was that you started journeying at eleven with Espeon and that you went to the Orange Islands."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want me to try and explain it to you?" Kirby offered.

"That's okay, I don't really need to understand it."

"Very well. Looks like we're here, anyways."

They had arrived in front of a relatively small building. It was dressed up to look like a beach shack, with driftwood paneling and palm tree frond roof. It was obviously fake, however, as there were no palm trees in miles. Also, some of the wood paneling had come off to reveal the brick underneath.

As they walked in, a guy with long blonde hair that fell over his eyes greeted them. He was wearing red shorts and a white tank top. On his feet he wore a pair of brown sandals. He was sitting behind the single checkout and had been previously reading a surfing magazine.

"Welcome to Austin's Surf & Sand," he called to them, "the most totally awesome place in Johto! How could I help a dude and dudette such as yourselves?"

"Um, yes," Kirby said, "My friend here needs some clothes."

"Like, what happened to the old ones, dude?"

"Well, um… She was… She was taking a shower after, uh… after swimming and, um… some- some sort of jerk went and stole her clothes."

"Uh-huh," the guy said skeptically, "Look, dude, like, I don't care what you, like, do in private, but, like, stealing this innocent dudette's threads… That's, like, so totally not cool."

Kirby looked at the man in disbelief. "What? No!" he said defensively.

"Whatever, dude," the man, who Kirby saw on his nametag was _the_ Austin, said shaking his head. He then addressed Aile, saying, "The clothing section is, like, over there. We, like, don't have much of a selection of, like, regular clothes, but go ahead and, like, take a look. I'll, like, totally make sure this dude pays for it. Is that, like, okay with you, dudette."

Aile, who had been having some trouble following what Austin had been saying, nodded a couple times before answering, "Um, like, yes, thank you. Let's go, like, Kirby."

Kirby gave an annoyed look at her, but waited until he was out of Austin's earshot before saying, "Thanks a lot, Aile."

"You're, like, welcome, but for, like, what?"

Kirby sighed at her misinterpretation of his sarcasm. "Nevermind. And could you stop talking li- in that way?"

"How, like, come, Kirby, like?" she asked, confused.

"Because it's annoying."

"But, like, you didn't say, like, anything to that, like, guy," she argued.

"He can't help it; you can."

"Oh, fine, but you don't have to be so mean about it," she said pouting.

"Sorry, I didn't get much sleep and it's making me get irritated easily."

"Alright," she responded. As they arrived at the clothing section, she looked around and asked, "Now, what should we get?"

Kirby started explaining to her, "Well, it looks like they don't have any underwear, so we should get a bathing suit to supplement them. Then you'll also need to get a shirt, some sort of pants or skirt or something, and some shoes. Though they probably only have sandals. So, why don't we look around and you can pick out what you like."

"O…kay," she said, still a little confused. They walked around the section, looking at the designs of the items. Aile ended up picking out a silver two-pieced bathing suit that had blue stripes on the sides. The shorts she chose were white khakis that had frayed legs to give the impression that they were originally pants that had had the legs cut short. Her shirt was gray and had a chest pocket with Silver Island's silver-wing logo on it. They also managed to find her a pair of black sandals that fit.

She held all of her stuff in her arms as Kirby directed her to the changing room. "Now go in there and get dressed," he told her.

Aile looked into the dressing room and then looked back at Kirby, saying, "But, I don't know how to."

"What do you mean?" Kirby questioned worriedly.

"I was a lugia, remember? I didn't wear clothes."

"Be careful about how loud you talk about being a you-know-what," he cautioned her, "It could get you in trouble. Now, what do you expect me to do about your clothes problem?"

"I was wondering if you could, you know, help me."

"Help you get dressed?" Kirby said in shock.

Aile just nodded.

"No! No, no, no, no, no. That is _not_ going to happen!"

"Why not?" she asked, her eyes watering from Kirby's sudden harshness.

"Because you'll… be naked, and I'll… see you naked," Kirby tried to explain.

"So?" she asked, clearly not understanding.

"'So?' So, I'm a guy, and… you're a girl… Plus, that Austin guy already thinks I'm weird." Kirby looked at her unconvinced face and blurted out, "And I'll see you naked!"

"Please Kirby?"

"But- but-" He was dragged into the dressing room by Aile before he could get anything out.

"Come on," she told him as she shut the door, "and if it's really that much of a problem then don't look."

**(-o-)(-o-) A few awkward moments later… (-o-)(-o-)**

Kirby and Aile were walking from the clothing section. Aile had her new clothes on, and was holding the tags in her hand. Kirby had a distraught look on his face.

"I mean, who puts a mirror on the ceiling?" Kirby exclaimed, "What possible reason could someone have to put one there?"

"Oh, relax," Aile told him.

"Relax? How can I relax? I saw you naked!"

"I was only half naked. I was wearing the bottom part of the bathing suit, remember?"

"I'm trying not to remember right now."

"Besides," she added, "you've seen me naked before."

"That was different. You needed help, and I didn't really notice."

"Whatever," she said.

They arrived back at the checkout. There, they noticed that Espeon had fallen asleep on the counter. Behind the desk sat a rather annoyed looking Austin.

"Dude, like, your espeon is, like, totally sleeping on my, like, counter. I think it's, like, totally scaring away, like, all my customers, which is, like, so totally not awesome," he complained to Kirby.

Kirby looked around the empty store and asked, "What customers?"

"Like, exactly, dude. Exactly," he replied while nodding. "Look, are you, like, going to return it or, like, what, dude?"

"Well, the thing is, Es' doesn't go in her pokéball."

"Dude, do you, like, think that, like, just because I'm, like, a surfer and not, like, a pokémon trainer, that I, like, don't know that all pokémon, like, go in pokéballs?"

"But… not all pokémon do, and my espeon is one of them," Kirby tried to convince him.

"Just get it off, now!" Austin practically yelled, waking up Espeon. Espeon, who was rather irritated at being woken up, then proceeded to launch a psybeam at Austin. He was thrown back a little, falling out of his chair.

"Es'!" Kirby called. "You're not helping."

"Es es-pe," she defended, "Es-pe peon." She jumped down off the counter and sat next to Kirby.

"Whatever. How is he?" Kirby asked Aile, who had kneeled down next to Austin.

"I think he's waking up," she responded as Austin opened his eyes. "Hello, Mr. Austin."

"Are you, like, the angel dudette that's, like, gonna bring me to Surfer Heaven?" the dazed storeowner asked.

"No, I came here to buy clothes. Don't you remember?"

"Oh sweet angel dudette of death, like, don't take me yet. At least let me, like, die surfing."

Kirby was becoming frustrated with this. He walked over to the guy and yelled, "Hey! You're not dying. Just get up and let us pay so that we can leave."

Austin rubbed his eyes a couple times and stood up, only to become dizzy and sit down in his chair. After a little bit of rest, he finally said, "Dude, like, what were you, like, trying to do, like, kill me?"

Kirby sighed before saying, "Look, could you just check us out?"

"Yeah, like, sure, dude." He politely asked Aile for the tags, and then added up the prices on a calculator. "Like, that'll be 5,000 pokéyen, like, plus tax."

"How much is the tax?" Kirby asked while pulling out his wallet.

"Like, it's 500 to that little dudette that's, like, standing next to you."

"What? What kind of tax is that?"

"It's, like, a pervert tax."

"What?! But, I'm not a-" Kirby stopped, seeing that the guy wasn't swayed. "Fine, here's your money," he said giving Austin some bills. Turning to Aile, he gave her some coins. "And here's yours."

"Ooh, they're so shiny and pretty," Aile said happily.

"Yes, yes, of course they are," Kirby told her with little enthusiasm. Then, to Austin, he asked, "Are we done?"

"Totally, dude, totally." Turning to Aile, he added, "If he, like, gives you anymore trouble, like, totally feel free to, like, call me." He handed her a business card with his pokégear number on it. She took it, though she didn't know what to do with it, and thanked him. Kirby just rolled his eyes and started walking out.

Aile followed after him, calling back, "Bye, Mr. Austin. See you again."

Walking out into the sunlight, Kirby let out a sigh. "Finally, I'm done with that place."

Aile came out behind him and said, "That was fun!"

"Fun for you, maybe," Kirby responded. "We should teach you some lessens in humanity. There are some things that you need to know. Which reminds me: can I have my money back? Aile? Aile?" Kirby turned around to see that Aile was no longer standing behind him and was now running up the beach towards the city. "Aile?! What the heck are you doing?" he asked, knowing she couldn't hear him. He then started running after her, Espeon right behind him.


	7. Melting Plot

A/N: Here it is, the next chapter. Be sure to review.

Disclaimer: Honestly, how many people would really think that I owned Pokémon if I didn't put this here?

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**Legends on Earth: Chapter Six: Melting Plot

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**

The crowd in the port city of Olivine moved at a steady pace. It was barely phased by the young silver-haired girl that was trying to weave her way through it. Besides the occasional "Hey! Watch it!" or "Be careful," everybody was too busy just trying to get where they were going to bother with the child.

'_I know he's around here somewhere,'_ the adolescent sea guardian thought to herself,_ 'He has to be. I saw him go this way.'_ She wasn't even sure why she had chased him. When she had seen him on the beach, a boy is his mid-teens with the palest of skins and light blue hair that only barely missed covering his eyes, he had been looking at her. This, itself, wasn't what bothered her. It was the way he had looked at her; as if he knew…

'_There!'_ She had seen him going around a corner. How could he be staying so far ahead of her? He didn't even look like he was running. She was beginning to get tired, too. She knew that she wouldn't be able to go on much longer.

She rounded the corner and, wham! She was on the ground before she even knew she had stopped. Pain was all she could think about as she found herself 90 degrees from her original position. Tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision as she attempted to make out the figure that shared her concrete resting spot.

It appeared to be a girl, just a little older than her own body would have been. She seemed to have brown hair, maybe red. Further observations were unable to be made, however, because the pain was really starting to overcome her.

Her injuries weren't even close to severe, as the only internal bleeding she had was where a bruise would soon form on her arm. Her inexperience with her new body's reactions, however, had caused her to go into a type of shock. The pain was soon replaced by a blissful numbness, and her awareness of the world was quickly dissipating. She didn't even notice her brown-haired companion as he kneeled down next to her before she closed her eyes and let go of consciousness.

And in the crowd, a boy, who was in his mid-teens and had pale skin and light blue hair, watched.

**(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)**

"Look, Mr. Rocchetto, it's not that we don't find your offer…amusing," a middle aged man, who had shoulder-length red hair that went behind his head, said to the shadowed leader of Team Rocket, "It's just that Archie and I aren't really into that sort of thing anymore."

"Right," the aforementioned Archie, a man of similar age who wore a blue bandana over his dark hair, chimed in, "me and Maxie have seen the error of our ways."

"Gentlemen," Giovanni said calmly, though with a sense of annoyance, "I don't think that you completely realize the opportunity that I am presenting you with. Think about it, both Groudon and Kyogre will be completely subdued. They won't have any way of defending themselves. Now's the best time to finally accomplish your dreams of capturing them."

"I don't think you get what our dreams were," Maxie responded, "It wasn't about capturing them. It was about using their power to expand the land-"

"Or sea," Archie added.

"The point is, even if we wanted to try and use them again, how could we if this process of yours leaves them powerless?"

"I've spoken with my scientists. They assure me that some power could be retained in the transformation. It would be weakened, of course, but that would only make it that much easier to control."

"I'm sorry, but we're just not like that anymore."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, gentlemen. It would have been a truly magnificent alliance," Giovanni said, standing up. The two other men followed suit, watching Giovanni as he opened the door out of his office. "Persia, could you come in," he called out into the waiting area.

The girl got up from the desk she was sitting at and came into the room. "Yes, sir?" she asked.

"I'd like to give these two gentlemen a tour of our facilities. A sort of parting gift," Giovanni explained to her. He waited until the two men had been ushered out of the office, then grabbed Persia's arm to stop her and whispered, "And be sure to give them a _proper_ tour of the lab."

"Yes, sir," she said somewhat sadly, knowing exactly what he meant. She then exited the office and proceeded to guide the men in their last few minutes as men.

**(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)**

Aile was standing on a dock looking at the sun set on the ocean. She wasn't sure how she had gotten there. She liked the view, though, because it reminded her of when she was a lugia. She wanted to just jump in the ocean right there and ride the currents like she used to.

"Are you the Sea Guardian?" a voice from behind her asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"What?" she said turning around. She was surprised to see that the speaker was the same boy whom she had been chasing. "Hey, who are you?"

"You are, aren't you?" he pressed.

"My kind have been called that, yes. Now who are you?"

"You don't look very impressive for a legend," he said, ignoring her.

"Well you didn't exactly catch me at my best."

"I'm not talking about how you look. I'm talking about the way you've been acting: your loose handle on your emotions; your dependency on humans. You're acting like the naïve little child you look like." His voice was starting to grow somewhat hateful.

"It's hard," she defended, though her own voice was getting weaker as his was growing stronger.

"Hard? You are a legendary _pokémon_. This should be nothing for you. There are bigger things going on than just your inability to control a body that's less advanced than your normal one. The entire world is going to be depending on you. Don't let human frailty get in your way." The boy glared at her with cold red eyes.

She shuddered under his gaze. "I don't understand. What do you mean the entire world is depending on me?"

"It's too much to explain right now. Just remember that humanity gets you nowhere. I depended on it once, and where did it get me? Now I'm dead and my sister is out there alone, captured and hurt." For the first time he seemed to show some emotion besides the cold hate.

Aile actually felt a little sorry for him. She reached her hand out in an attempt to comfort him. "Look…"

"I'm out of time," he said, turning away from her. "Remember what I said." He started to walk away.

"Wait!" she called. She wanted to go after him, but her body wouldn't let her. The boy just kept walking. As he was walking, though, he seemed to disappear into thin air. Aile was becoming increasingly confused. Darkness began to overcome her vision until she couldn't see anything.

**(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)(-o-)**

"Hey, I think she's waking up," a worried looking Kirby told the woman who had helped them.

"That's good," the woman, who had shoulder-length, light brown hair that had two pigtails in it, replied.

Aile, who was lying on a bed in the same room, slowly opened her eyes. Seeing Kirby, she asked in a whisper, "What's going on?"

Kirby smiled at her and responded, "You had a little accident. Nothing too serious, but you were knocked out. Thankfully, Jasmine came by and helped us." He motioned towards the other woman. "She's the gym leader here."

"Thank you," Aile said to Jasmine.

"Don't mention it. You're just lucky that I was heading to the port to catch a ship to Sinnoh."

"I'm sorry again for delaying your trip a _second_ time," Kirby said to the gym leader.

"Don't worry about it. It was well worth it both times," she assured him. "Now, I'll go get you two something to drink." She headed out the door of the room, leaving the trainer alone with his hurt friend.

After she had left, a sudden look of realization appeared on Aile's face. She sat up hurriedly and looked around. "What happened to him?" she asked out loud and not directly to Kirby.

Kirby was the one who answered, though, saying, "Who? You mean the person you ran into? It was a girl actually. She's fine. She came here with us, too."

Aile shook her head. "No, that isn't who I meant. I was wondering about the boy."

"Boy? What boy?" Kirby was confused as to what she was talking about.

"Nevermind," she told him. She needed to figure it all out for herself.

Just then, another girl walked in carrying a tray with a pitcher of liquid and some glasses on it. She had short reddish-brown hair that stuck out in places. She wore a dark yellow skirt and green shirt. Kirby's espeon followed close behind, jumping up on the bed and sitting down.

Kirby gave Espeon a pat on the head as the new girl set down the tray on a nearby table. She picked up the pitcher and started to pour the liquid into the glasses. She handed a glass to Aile and another to Kirby, while keeping one for herself.

"It's lemonade," the girl told them. "Jasmine told me to bring it up for you."

"Aile," Kirby started, "this is Mattle. She's the girl that you ran into."

Aile let out a little gasp. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just-"

Mattle put up a hand to stop her. "It's fine," she said, "No harm done, right?"

Aile nodded. "For the most part, I suppose."

The red haired girl smiled. "Right. Now, then, getting down to business. Aile, do you mind if I talk to you in private?"

"Okay," she replied with a small shrug.

"Hey, wait a minute," Kirby said, looking at Mattle, "Why do you need to be alone with her?"

"Well, I'm not going to hurt her, if that's what you're worried about," Mattle said kindly.

"I just don't get what you need to talk about that you can't say in front of me," he continued.

"Uhh… girl stuff."

Kirby was about to further his argument, but he was stopped when Aile said, "It's fine, Kirby. I'm sure I'll be okay." Seeing his unconvinced face, she added, "Espeon could stay in here if you're really worried about it."

He sighed. "Well, alright," he said, a dash of reluctance still in his voice. "Okay, Es'? You make sure nothing happens to Aile, got it?"

Espeon nodded, but a sudden yawn from her didn't help ease his worries.

"I'll be right outside the door, too, if you need me," he added as he left the room and shut the door.

"He's a very suspicious person, isn't he?" Mattle noted out loud.

"Kirby is just a little protective of me, that's all," Aile defended.

"That could very well change if he knew everything about you."

"What do you mean?"

"Aile, I know you're a legendary pokémon. If that human found out, who knows what he would do. I know some humans are good, and wouldn't capture a legendary under any conditions. Maybe this Kirby is one of them, but I also know that most of the humans in the world would do anything to catch a legendary. I don't think it's safe to take the risk of being with him."

Aile was shocked by what she was hearing. Here was yet another person who was telling her to leave Kirby because he was a human. "But, Kirby-" She stopped, realizing something else. "Wait, how do _you_ know that I'm Lugia?"

"Well I didn't know you were a lugia. All I knew was that you were a legendary. The reason for that is: I'm a legendary, too," she said with a smile, getting a surprised reaction from both Aile and Espeon. "Ho-oh to be specific."

Aile was completely amazed. She wasn't the only one going through this, then. Right in front of her was another who was in the same position. She was so happy to not be alone that she hugged Mattle right then, tears coming to her eyes.

Mattle let out a gasp at the unexpected embrace. Not sure what to do, she just patted Aile on the back and said, "Um… It's okay…"

Espeon had grown rather bored of this at this point. With Aile having vacated the bed, she felt free to lie down in the middle of it. The psychic pokémon was soon fast asleep.

After a few moments, the two girls separated. Aile turned around to see Espeon lying on the bed, asleep. She smiled at the sight and found a spot at the end of the bed to sit. "There's one thing I don't understand, though," she said, looking at Mattle, "If you can sense that I'm a legendary, how come I can't sense that you're one?"

"I don't know," she stated simply, "but that doesn't mean that I don't have the ability or that I'm not really Ho-oh."

"Okay, that actually sounds _more_ suspicious. How else could you know that I'm a legendary, though, right?"

Mattle gave her a look that said, "Well, yeah."

Aile sighed. "This is just getting so complicated."

"It gets more complicated, believe me. We can deal with that later, though. First, we need to get you away from that Kirby guy."

"Oh, but- You're worried about him trying to catch me if he were to find out that I'm a legendary, right?" Aile said, a smile coming to her face as an idea came into her head.

"Yeah…" Mattle replied suspiciously.

Aile's smile just grew wider. She got up, walked over to the door and opened it. She called to Kirby, who had gone down the hall a little, "Okay, you can come back in, now."

When Kirby came into the room, the first thing he noticed was Espeon asleep on the bed. "A lot of good you were," he muttered with a sigh. The next thing he noticed was Aile's smile. "What?"

"Kirby, I'm Lugia," she answered simply. Mattle let out a gasp in shock.

"Uhh… Aile, what are you talking about? Of course you're not Lugia," he said, faking disbelief while eyeing Mattle carefully.

Aile's smile faded slightly until she realized what Kirby was doing. "Oh, don't worry; she knows already."

"Oh." He glanced over at Mattle. "Wait, then why are you telling me like I didn't know?"

Aile's smile just grew wider as Mattle exclaimed, "You mean he knows already?"

A look of realization appeared on Kirby's face. "Oh, I get what's going on here. I swear Aile; for being a legendary pokémon, you can sure act like a child sometimes." She just stuck out her tongue, prompting Kirby to say, "I rest my case. Anyways, Mattle," he said, turning to the other girl, "how do you know Aile is what she is?"

"Well, um…" she responded nervously, not sure whether to tell him or not. "It's because I'm- I'm a-"

"She's Ho-oh," Aile finished for her.

"Really? Now that is interesting. So, same deal as Aile here?"

"I don't know for sure, but I would assume so."

"A strange voice in your head, followed by a feeling almost like evolution?" the former lugia asked.

"Yeah, but I recognized the voice."

"You did? Who was it?" The questions came from Kirby again.

"A pokémon by the name of Mewtwo."

"I've never heard of it before," he told her, an expression of interest on his face.

"I'm not surprised. Most of the people who have heard of him have had their memories erased."

"Excuse me?" Kirby asked, surprised at the comment.

"It's a long story."

"Well you aren't in a hurry to get somewhere, are you?"

"Well, I am; I just don't know where."

"Good, then you can tell us the story."

"Alright, but you may want to sit down. This could take awhile…"


	8. Wakeup Call

A/N: Not much to say really. Thanks for the reviews, and I hope to see more. Oh, and this is my longest chapter ever! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, or anything else I may accidentially allude to.

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**Legends on Earth: Chapter Seven: Wakeup Call**

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Kirby was lying awake in the standard Pokémon Center bunkbed. Aile was sleeping peacefully below him, while Mattle was in the lower half of the bed on the other side of the room. Espeon had managed to get to the top bunk of the other bed and was now sleeping curled up a little in the middle of it.

Kirby was being kept awake by thoughts of all that had happened that day. Between Aile's little accident and all the stuff that Mattle had told them, this little adventure was becoming interesting rather quickly. There was one thing, specifically, that he kept turning over in his mind again and again.

'_He was calling for help,'_ he thought to himself for the uncountable numbered time, _'What could he need help for? What could have been able to get to a being so powerful? The only team who is active in the area, heck, the only team active in most of the world, is Team Rocket. Mattle said that their memories were erased, though. Could there be another evil out there?'_

The young trainer sat up and rubbed his eyes. "What time is it anyways?" he asked the darkness. Not getting a response, unsurprisingly, he climbed down to the floor. He rummaged through his stuff until he found his pokégear. Pulling it out, he pressed a button on the side to light up the time display. "2:37. I swear, these girls are killing my healthy sleeping pattern."

The soft glow of the pokégear and Kirby's whispered observations were just enough to awake the silver-haired girl sleeping a few feet way. She opened her eyes wearily and let out a small moan. Looking towards Kirby, she said, "I'm guessing it's not morning, yet."

Kirby smiled at the girl. "No, Aile, I'm afraid it isn't." He turned off the pokégear's light and put it back in his stuff. He then looked back at Aile, who was watching him, and told her, "You should get back to sleep."

"I don't want to," she answered, sitting up. "It feels like all I've been doing is sleeping. I'm tired of sleeping."

The boy smiled again, this time at her interesting choice of words. "Fine, but we both need to get our sleep schedules corrected. Anything you want to talk about while we're up?"

She thought about telling him about the boy from earlier. That was the real reason that she didn't want to sleep. She was worried that he might come to her again in her dreams. He had shown so little emotion, just that hatred towards humanity. It scared her. Not because of him, but because somewhere inside herself, there was some part of her that agreed with him. She didn't want Kirby to know that because it could make him not want to help her anymore. That was definitely something she didn't want to happen.

Aile was brought out of her thoughts when she noticed Kirby's hand waving in front of her face, and him saying, "Hello, Aile? You still with me?" He had sat down next to her on the bed.

"What?" she said suddenly. "Oh, sorry. I guess my mind wandered off a little."

"So I noticed. Are you sure that you don't want to go back to bed?" he asked, still thinking about having to get some sleep, himself.

"No, I think I'd rather just stay up with you," she replied, laying her head on his shoulder.

Kirby was a little surprised by her action, but he let her do it without saying anything but, "Alright, Aile." Soon, though, the young legendary had fallen back to sleep. Kirby yawned, not far behind…

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In the minimal pre-day light coming from the sliver of sun that could be seen on the horizon, a man in his twenties approached the Olivine City Pokémon Center. The cool wind caused his messy blonde hair to sway slightly, but otherwise had no effect on him. He wore a brown jacket, like the ones old pilots wore, over a white t-shirt. On his right sleeve was a patch that had a lightning bolt symbol sewn into it. His pants were a dark purple and were slightly long for him. He wore white sneakers that matched his white gloves.

The gaze of his red eyes fell on the Pokémon Center. "Are you sure this is the right place?" he asked his unseen companion.

"_Do you really doubt me, Thunder Legend? I'm always sure,"_ the voice in his head answered.

"Right, I forgot. So, do you want me to attack when they come out?" He started to remove one of his gloves in preparation.

"_No, just observe their movements for now. There's still some doubt in the Sea Guardian's heart. She may join us, yet."_

"And, what about the other one?"

"_The Rainbow Recreator? She's grown too close to humanity, born linked to one of them. It doesn't matter who he really is… But, no, she won't come to our side under any circumstances. She isn't even worth the energy to try to convince. I will mask you from her more apparent ability, though."_

The man just nodded as his own silent response.

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Kirby opened his eyes wearily as he thought he heard his name. Into his vision, the blurry image of Mattle appeared. As the image cleared up, he realized Mattle was looking down at him. He asked, somewhat annoyed, "What?"

"It's about time that you woke up," the redhead told him. "I've been trying for over five minutes."

"What time is it?"

"Let's see, if I'm reading this right," He saw that she had his pokégear in her hand. "then it's seven twelve."

"It's too early," Kirby whined, "wake me up again, later." He turned over, with every intention to go back to sleep. The sight of Aile sleeping next to him in the bed quickly made him abandon that idea, however. He hurriedly got out of the bed and stood up next to Mattle. "What the…" he muttered under his breath.

"Fun night?" Mattle asked, an amused smile on her face. She was obviously enjoying this.

"Oh, shut up; you don't even know what you're talking about."

She made an expression of mock annoyance. "I've been observing humanity for all my life. I think I know what I'm talking about, thank you very much."

"Whatever, but it still isn't what you think," Kirby defended.

"Okay…" she taunted in a knowing voice.

He was going to say something else, but he was stopped by Aile's mumbled groans as she woke up. She rubbed her eyes and opened them, looking at Kirby. She looked a little sad and said, "Aww… I fell asleep, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but it's okay," Kirby responded. Seeing that Mattle was on verge of laughing, he said to her, "Have you always had such a dirty mind?"

Mattle raised her eyebrow and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course you don't…"

Aile just looked back and forth between them with a confused expression. She got up out of the bed and looked at them some more, curiously. She then looked around and innocently asked, "Where's Espeon?"

Kirby was glad for a change of subject. He glanced up at the top bunk of the other bed. Not seeing her up there, he said, "That's a good question. Do you know, Mattle?"

The other girl thought about it. "Let's see. I woke up, and then I tried to get you up. While I was doing that, I saw her try to get into your bag. When she wasn't able to, she left."

"She left…" he started with a sigh, "That figures. She can't even wait a few minutes to eat."

As if on cue, there was a knock on the partially open door. Opening it all the way, Kirby saw the pink-haired Nurse Joy standing in the hallway. At her feet was Espeon, who came running into the room.

"So this espeon does belong to you, then," Joy stated.

"Yes. She didn't cause any trouble did she?"

"Not really. She was just wandering around the cafeteria, trying to get food from people."

Kirby gave an annoyed look at Espeon. "Really?" he asked somewhat sarcastically.

The pokémon nurse just nodded as a reply. "It wasn't a problem, though. I gave her some berries, and she seemed to be happy."

"Well, thank you; and, I'm sure Es' thanks you, too."

Joy nodded again and said, "Have a nice day," before turning around and leaving.

Kirby looked back at his group of companions. He gave another little look to Espeon then said, "Well, I realize that Es' has already eaten, but the rest of us should have breakfast, too." He looked to the two girls, who just nodded in agreement.

Kirby got all his stuff situated before leading the group downstairs and to the cafeteria. He just got a bagel and some coffee, which he didn't drink often, just times like this when he needed the caffeine. Aile, on the other hand, opted to have the maple syrup with pancakes, getting odd looks from the few trainers up that early as she poured it on to the point of almost overflowing. Mattle was more conservative with the syrup as she got some pieces of French toast. Both the girls just had orange juice to drink. They chose a table near the back of the room and sat down.

"This tastes amazing!" Aile practically cheered after trying her breakfast.

"It should with all that syrup on it," Kirby commented, "Just, don't make yourself sick by eating it."

She was too busy eating her meal to hear him, though. He just shook his head a little and took a sip of his drink. His thoughts soon settled on the matter of money.

True, he didn't have to worry about paying for their meals. The Pokémon Centers provided their services for free to trainers, making most of their money from the occasional non-trainer and various fundraising events. Also, they did get a certain amount from the Pokémon League because of their main purpose as a medical facility.

Nonetheless, though, he was running low on cash and he would probably need some in the future. He could always battle some trainers to get money, but it was a rather roundabout way of doing it. Besides, there was always the chance that he could lose, and then he would be back at square one.

'_No,'_ he decided, _'I guess there's only one place to get the money. I need to call them, anyways.'_ He finished what was left of his breakfast quickly and stood up. The girls looked up from their meals, and he told them, "It's okay; I just need to do something quick. You two can finish eating." Seeing that Aile's face had syrup all over it, he added, "And, Mattle, could you help her with that?"

She nodded and said, "Sure." Aile looked confused, not knowing what they were talking about. She dismissed it, though, and continued eating.

Kirby walked out of the cafeteria, Espeon following behind him. He headed into the lobby area and walked to other side. There, three videophone terminals were set up in a row. He sat down at one that was at the end. Espeon jumped up onto the little table that the videophone was on and sat down. Picking up the receiver, he dialed the one number he knew better than any other: home.

He heard the tone that told you that the phone on the other end was ringing. He looked around while he was waiting. Since no one was around him, he pressed the button that turned on the speakerphone and replaced the receiver. Soon, the repeating tone stopped and the blackness on the screen was replaced by an image.

Displayed on the monitor was a guy of about nineteen or twenty. He had very short, brown hair, and his eyes were a dark brown. He wore a black t-shirt, but anything else was concealed by the camera's visual range. "Hello?" the guy said.

"Hi, Nate," Kirby responded.

"Oh, hey, Bro. Long time, no see. So, how've you been?"

"Okay, for the most part. I got two more badges!"

"Well, that's good to hear."

Kirby nodded. "What about you? Hope the Jennys aren't outshining you too much on the police force."

Nate laughed. "No, not too much. They're still the most well known officers, though."

"Yeah, I suppose they would be. Hey, while I've got you here, do you know if there have been any reports of new team activity?" He hoped it wasn't too suspicious a question.

His older brother looked at him questioningly. "Not really. Rocket has mostly been staying in the shadows. Aqua and Magma have completely disappeared. Uhh… Oh! There is a new team in Sinnoh called Team Galaxy, but they seem to be relatively harmless and probably won't be a problem. Why do you need to know, anyways?"

Kirby froze for a moment. "No reason," he said nervously, "Thanks."

"No problem, Bro." Nate was still skeptical, but he shrugged it off. After all, it was his little brother. He couldn't be getting into too much trouble, right? "Is that it, or is there something else?" he asked.

"Just something I need to talk about with Mom. Is she there?"

"Yeah, just a sec'." He put his hand over the mouth piece, but his voice still came through as he turned away and yelled, "Hey, Mom! Kirby's on the phone!" He seemed to pause for a second before speaking back into the receiver, "She's coming down."

Moments later, he gave way for a middle aged woman with dirty blonde hair. She was wearing a pink top and black pants. As she sat down at the console on the other side of the screen, she took the receiver from Nate and smiled. "Hi, sweetie," she greeted Kirby.

"Hi, Mom," he said back, not revealing that he was slightly embarrassed at being called "sweetie."

"And how are you, Espeon?" she said to the psychic-type, her words carrying somewhat of a "baby voice" tone to them. "Kirby isn't pushing you too much, is he?"

Espeon just shook her head as a response. Though his mother couldn't pick up on it, Kirby could tell that she resented being talked to like that. He had tried telling his mother as much, before, but she had dismissed it as "nonsense."

She smiled at Espeon before looking back at her son. "Why are you calling? We thought that you would be on the boat to Kanto, by now."

"I know, but something came up." He hoped she didn't pry into this too much. Everything that was going on was difficult enough just to understand. He didn't know how he would ever explain it, or even if he should. With the reason why he had been planning to go home being so important, though, he knew some discussion would be inevitable.

"What kind of something?" she inquired.

"Just, something…" he answered, avoiding eye contact somewhat.

"Kirby Oliver Donovan," she scolded, causing him to flinch, "tell me what is more important than spending your own birthday with your family."

There it was. He couldn't get away from it now. He had to tell her something. He couldn't tell her the truth, though, could he? She probably wouldn't even believe him. Not that he could blame her if she didn't; he still wasn't sure why he believed it. He couldn't lie to her, either. It was his mother, for goodness sake!

"I'm waiting, young man," she said, crossing her arms.

He sighed._ 'Here goes nothing,'_ he thought to himself before saying, "You see…" He didn't finish though because at that moment Mattle and Aile came into the lobby.

"There you are, Kirby," Aile almost shouted as they came up to him. "We weren't sure where you went."

"Kirby," his mother began with an air of expectancy, "who's that?"

Aile was rather intrigued by the strange woman in the box. Getting her face up close to the screen, she tapped it a little. The woman's expression became one of bewilderment. Who was this girl, and why did she act so strange? Seeing the reaction of the woman, Aile turned to Kirby and said, "I think there's someone in here."

Kirby lowered his head slightly in embarrassment. "Yes, Aile, there is," he sighed.

Mattle directed Aile away from the screen as Kirby's mom pressed, "Well?"

"Sorry. Mom, this is Aile," he told her, indicating the silver haired girl, "and this is Mattle," he said, motioning towards the other girl. "Mattle, Aile, this is my mother."

"Hello," Mattle stated simply.

"Hi!" Aile cheered excitedly.

"It's nice to meet both of you," she responded politely. "So, Kirby, why didn't you tell me that you had new friends?"

"I was getting to it. Actually, they're the reason that I can't come home."

"Oh?" the older woman asked.

"Yeah!" Aile chimed in, "Kirby's gonna help us. He already saved my life once."

"Is that so?" his mother asked, receiving a small nod from her son in return. "Well, who would have thought it? My son, the hero. Okay, if it's really that important for you to help these girls, then go ahead and do it."

"Thanks, Mom. There's one more thing, though. Do you mind transferring some money into my trainer's account? I'm running a little low," he explained, finally getting to the original point of his call.

"Of course, dear. How much do you need?"

"50,000 should be good."

"Alright, you know what to do."

Kirby nodded and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small silver device. Opening it up revealed his trainer card displayed on the top, and a touch screen on the bottom. Pressing a few things on the touch screen, his trainer card popped out. Kirby grabbed the card, which displayed a picture of him, his name, some other general information about him, and five small stamps representing the badges he had gotten so far in the region. On the reverse side was a magnetic strip which was used for accessing the electronic version of all this information, as well as his trainer's account.

Inserting the card into a slot on the videophone, a small window with the information appeared on the screen. His mother did a few things on her side, and soon the line that read, "Money: P¥250," changed to read, "Money: P¥50250." Kirby grabbed his card as it came back out and put it back in his case, pocketing it.

"Thanks, Mom," Kirby said afterwards.

"You're welcome, honey. Now, be careful out there. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Don't worry, Mom, I'll be fine." He only wished that he was as sure as he sounded. The fact was that he didn't know if he would be fine. From what he knew, the whole thing sounded like it could end up being pretty dangerous. He wasn't about to let his mother know that, though.

"Alright, goodbye, Kirby."

"Bye." Kirby was about to turn off the videophone when Nate appeared back on the screen.

"One more thing, Bro," he called through the mouthpiece. "I've got something for you." He held up a premier ball into the camera's vision.

"What's that for?" Kirby asked, looking at the 'ball curiously.

"Well, since I'm not going to see you next week, I thought I'd give you your gift right now," his brother explained.

"You got me a premier ball?"

Nate laughed and shook his head. "No, of course not. I got you a pokémon."

Kirby was excited now. "Really? Which one?"

"It's a surprise," the older boy taunted. "Should I send it over?"

"Definitely! Do you think I should send someone home?" He didn't have to send any of his pokémon in exchange. There were only five with him at the moment. He liked to keep the sixth slot open for any new pokémon he caught. That way, he could get to know them before they were sent home.

"No. From what I understand, you're going to be going on a little larger adventure. It would probably be good for you to have a full team." While he was talking, he was placing the ball in the transport terminal.

"Right, that makes sense."

"Okay, here it comes," Nate continued as Kirby's own side of the transporter started to light up. Soon, the premier ball had completely materialized.

Kirby picked it up and smiled. "Thanks, Nate!"

"You're welcome, Bro. Good luck out there. Oh, and by the way, its nickname is Teslar."

"Okay. See ya, Nate!"

"Bye, Bro." The screen turned black as Nate hung up.

"Well, that was nice of him," Aile commented.

"Yes…" Kirby said regretfully.

"Shall we go then?" Mattle asked.

"Yeah, let's head outside," Kirby directed.

Kirby stood up and headed out the door with the two girls, Espeon right behind them. Once outside, he decided to see what, exactly, his brother gave him. Throwing the ball, he watched as it opened and released a flash of light. The light came together and started to form his new pokémon.

As the light dissipated, it revealed a gray bird pokémon with darker ends of its wings and a darker head. Its tail had a white part between two dark parts. There was a white spot on its chest, and it had a white, clover-shaped face. "Starly!" it chirped.

"Wow, a starly!" Kirby exclaimed, crouching down to get a better look at it. Speaking to it, he greeted, "Hi, Teslar, I'm Kirby. How are you?"

"Star?" Teslar began, "Star starly. Star star starly, star? Star star-ar star star starly star. Star starly star star."

"Chatty, isn't it?" Mattle cited.

"Quite," he agreed.

Seeing Espeon, Teslar hopped over to her and said, "Star, star starly. Star star star?"

"Espe…" she replied hesitantly.

"Starly? Star star. Starly star star starly star? Star ly. Star starly star-star. Star star ly star star? Starly star-ar star star star. Star star star-ar star starly star-ar? Star starly star…" It looked like he may never stop talking.

"Es…" Espeon sighed as he kept talking.

Meanwhile, Kirby started a conversation with the girls, saying, "So, do either of you have any idea where we should go?"

"I was thinking about that," Mattle responded. "Not too long ago, I observed a legendary pokémon that had the ability to change shape. It was called Deoxys. Now, I'm not sure where exactly to find it, but I know where we can find someone who may."

"Where?"

"Larousse City."

"Larousse City? Isn't that close to Hoenn?" Kirby questioned.

Mattle nodded. "Yes, it is."

He sighed a little. "Alright, I guess we're going to have to take a boat. We should head down to the port."

Kirby returned Teslar, much to the relief of Espeon. Then, they all started walking to Olivine City's port. What they didn't know was that in the shadows behind them, a blonde-haired man was following them.

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A/N: You may have gotten this already, but "P¥" is my best representation for "pokéyen". Anyways, while I've got you, review! 


	9. Rocket Ship

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and all that jazz, please send more! New record for chapter length. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Do I even need to say it anymore?

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**Legends on Earth: Chapter Eight: Rocket Ship

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**

In a dimly lit room, a boy of about 15 stood. He had shoulder length, dark green hair and blue eyes that looked like they were viewing something far away. What he was looking at, however, was a mere foot away. It was a screen, which provided the only light in the room and displayed the image of his boss, Giovanni.

"Well?" the Rocket leader asked.

"What?" the boy inquired, tilting his head slightly.

"I asked you for your status," Giovanni replied, his frustration increasing.

"Oh, right. Z-Squadron is ready and awaiting you're orders!"

"Very good. Did you receive your new pokémon?"

The green-haired boy thought for a moment before pulling two pokéballs out of his pocket. He looked at them for a few more seconds then answered, "Uh… Yes, sir."

"Good. Those two should be smart enough on their own to make up for even your lax training methods."

He nodded for a little before saying, "Hey, if you don't like the way I battle, then why do you keep me on Team Rocket?"

Giovanni sighed. "Because, _somehow_, you always manage to accomplish something useful."

Smirking, he said, "I guess I'm just good like that."

Ignoring the comment, the man continued, "Now go and get ready to confront the girl I told you about. This one is too important to just rely on your dumb luck, so stay focused!" The screen went black.

The boy blinked a couple times in the darkness. "I should have turned another light on," he told himself. Placing the two 'balls back in his pocket, he stumbled his way back to the door. Finally reaching it, he opened it and left.

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Entering the port area, Kirby and his odd group of friends made their way to a ticket counter. The person behind the counter was a girl in her mid-twenties with pink hair that she had tied into a ponytail. Her sky-blue eyes gazed with boredom at Kirby as he walked up to her booth. She paused in her gum chewing just long enough to ask him, "How can I help you?"

"Hi. I'd like to buy one trainer ticket, with privileges for one pokémon to be out of its ball, and two non-trainer tickets, all for Larousse City, please."

"Sorry, can't," the girl said flatly.

"What do you mean by that?" Kirby asked.

"I mean that you can't get tickets to Larousse City," she explained, annoyed at how long this was taking.

"Why not?"

"'Cause we don't have any boats that go there." At this point, she had started looking at her nails, which were painted the same color as her hair. "So… We done?"

He looked at her in disbelief. "No, we aren't done. Is there somewhere else that I can go that I can get to Larousse City from?"

The ticket clerk just shrugged.

Kirby sighed. "Well, is there any way that you could check?"

She stared at him for a moment. "Are you trying to make my job difficult?"

"No. Isn't it your job to help me?"

"Whatever." She slowly turned and started typing on the computer next to her. After a few moments, she turned back and said, "It looks like, if you take the boat to Slateport City, you can get to Larousse from there."

"Thank you. I'd like some tickets to there, then."

She nodded, then turned back to the computer and typed some more. Without looking away from the screen, she asked, "You got a trainer's card?"

"Yeah… Why?"

She just stuck out her hand in response.

Kirby rolled his eyes and pulled his trainer card case out of his pocket. He handed it to the girl, who practically ripped it out of his hand. She interfaced the whole case-device with her computer. Soon, three tickets were being printed out. She grabbed them and gave them to Kirby, along with his trainer card case. She didn't say anything during, or after, this whole process.

"Thanks," he said. She continued to essentially ignore him, so he just started to walk away. As they walked towards the ship, Kirby handed Mattle and Aile their tickets.

When they reached the right dock, he took a necklace-like chain out of his bag. Connected to it was a small tag with some information about Espeon. He ripped off part of his ticket and attached it to the back of the tag. Then, he attempted to put the chain around Espeon's neck. She resisted, though, and wouldn't let him, prompting him to say, "Come on, Es', you know I have to do this. If I don't, they won't let you on." She reluctantly agreed, and he put it around her neck.

"Why do you need to have her wear that?" Aile asked, looking at the tag and chain curiously. "Is it to restrain her?"

Kirby shook his head. "No. It wouldn't be enough to restrain much anyways. She needs to wear it so that no one thinks that she's a stray who stowed away. Also, it shows that I paid for her to be out all the time."

"I didn't know that you had to pay for something like that," Mattle commented.

"Sometimes, you don't. Or, I don't, anyways. That's mostly just on small ferries or those luxury cruise liners that are marketed towards trainers, though. On these large passenger ships, however, they usually want to limit the amount of pokémon that are wandering around." Kirby took a deep breath after this explanation. "Now then, let's get on before it starts to leave."

They walked to the end of the dock and got into a line that had formed in front of the platform going up to the ship. Although all the person checking the tickets had to do was scan them with the device in his hand, he still had to go through them one at a time. This created a situation where people had to wait awhile before they could actually get on the ship. So, they stayed in line, until they, finally, reached the person.

The man wore the recognizable sailor's uniform, his hat neatly sitting on his short, black hair. He greeted them with a smile and brown eyes that were bright with life. "Hello," he said happily, taking Kirby's ticket and scanning it, "first time going to Hoenn?"

"Yes it is," Kirby replied. He could see, now, why the line had moved so slowly. It also seemed to be the reason why no one looked mad about it when they got up here.

"Are you going to be competing in any of the gyms? Or, perhaps, you'll try your hand at a contest?" he continued, moving on to Aile's ticket.

"No, I'm afraid that we're just going there to visit someone," he said, trying not to reveal too much about their real reasons for going.

"Well, seeing friends and family can be exciting, too," he commented, now working on Mattle's ticket. "I actually live in Slateport, myself. After this trip, I'll have some time off. So, if you need someone to show you around, feel free to ask," the sailor offered.

Kirby was a little surprised by the offer. This man was truly a large contrast to the girl he had dealt with moments earlier. He probably would have accepted if it were under different circumstances. "Thanks, but we're actually going to have to catch another boat in Slateport to get to our final destination."

"Oh, that's too bad." He then noticed Espeon sitting near Kirby's feet. Getting down on one knee, he petted her lightly and said, "Well, aren't you a sweet little girl? No, I'm sorry. You're a battler, aren't you? I can see that fighting spirit in your eyes. Not that you would do too badly in a contest, either."

Kirby smiled at his espeon. She was taking it better than he would have expected. She normally seemed to dislike such attention. It usually came from people like his mother, though, who treated her like a baby or something. This guy was talking to her as if she actually had a level of intelligence similar to his own. It may also just have been that she was too content with the petting.

"Hey," the sailor continued, "how about a little treat?" He then pulled out a pokéblock case and dispensed one into his hand. He offered it to her, saying, "Go on; try it."

Espeon looked at the pokéblock carefully for a few seconds before finally taking it and eating it. She seemed to enjoy it, as she smiled and cheered, "Es pe!"

Standing back up, the man said, "Well, I better let you go and get set up in your cabin. If you need anything, just ask for Elton."

Kirby nodded. "Alright, I will. You should get back to what you were doing, too. You wouldn't want a riot forming."

Elton laughed. "With all the lousy service around here, they're probably used to it. You're right, though. See ya around, and have a good trip." He started to go to the next person in line.

"Right, you too." He walked towards his quarters, with Aile, Mattle and Espeon following him.

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The blonde-haired man, who was called "Thunder Legend" by his overseer, had followed his charges to the port. Once there, he had watched from a distance as they went to the ticket booth and then to the ship. Making his own way through the crowd, he arrived at the ship just as they were walking away from the man who was collecting tickets.

He waited a little longer until all the people had gotten on the ship. As the person looking at the tickets left, another sailor came out to bring up the platform connecting the dock to the ship. It was now that the blonde-haired man went forward. Going up to the platform, he attempted to cross it.

The sailor stopped him and asked, "Got a ticket?"

He just looked at the sailor for a moment. Taking his glove off, he quickly grabbed the guy's neck. The sailor stiffened before slumping to the ground, a burn mark on his neck and another unseen on the bottom of his foot.

"Humans…" he muttered before walking onto the ship and disappearing around a corner.

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"Kirby, I'm bored," Aile said to the boy who was lying down in his bed. After three uneventful days of sitting around in their cabin, she was getting restless. Sure, she got to stretch her legs every once in awhile. They would go to the dining hall or maybe just a walk on the observation deck, sometimes. It wasn't enough for the young lugia, though. She wanted something else to do.

"I know you are, Aile," the boy said without looking at her. "You've told me about three times already, today. I'm bored, too. It wouldn't be as bad if this ship had a pokémon battlefield or something."

She looked at him with wonder. "Why would that be better?"

"Because, it would give me something to do. It would help Es', too." He motioned towards Espeon, who was sleeping on the floor next to him. "She tends to get lazy if she isn't kept battling."

"But, what would _I_ do?" the girl whined.

Kirby rolled his eyes and looked at her. "I don't know. You could watch. It would probably be more interesting than the walls of this ship or the sea just moving past. Maybe I could even teach you to battle."

"Why?" she asked. "I'm a pokémon, too. I wouldn't want to force others to fight each other."

He shook his head. "You've got it all wrong. It's not about making them fight. It's about comparing their skills and abilities. They aren't forced into battle, because they want to show how strong they are, too. After all, they're powerful enough to turn against humans if they wanted to."

"But, the pokéball…"

"The pokéball is a marvelous piece of technology that allows pokémon to be stored someplace out of the way. It is not a prison, and it is not a brainwashing device. The worst it can do is to identify a pokémon as belonging to someone. Besides, if they really want to, most pokémon can break out of it."

"Oh… Why do they stay inside them, then?"

Kirby shrugged. "Only they know that. Some people believe that they have a sort of lucid dream while they're stored in there. I, for one, know that not _all_ pokémon enjoy it." He looked at Espeon, an expression of sympathy on his face. "Es' was only ever in a pokéball once. She was reluctant then, and she still seems afraid of it. I just wish I could understand how there could be such a drastic difference of opinion about the same thing."

"Some beings just don't like to be contained. It doesn't matter whether that containment is pleasant or not. I know I wouldn't want to live most of my life in a dream, especially if I was aware that it wasn't real."

He sighed and said, "I guess you're right…" Sitting up, he asked, "Hey, where'd Mattle go, anyways?"

"She said that she was going up to the observation deck."

"Okay. How about we join her, hmm?"

"Alright," she responded with a nod.

They were about to leave, when they heard a scream. It woke up Espeon, who immediately stood up in a defensive position. Kirby quickly got up and ran out the door. Espeon, realizing that what was going on wasn't near her, followed him. Aile was the last to leave, hurriedly trying to catch up. They navigated their way through the narrow hallways until they emerged on the observation deck. The sky had gotten dark with rain clouds, but what the group noticed was Mattle struggling in the grasp of a slakoth.

"What's going on here?" Kirby shouted.

"I'm taking your friend, that's what," they heard a voice say. Looking to where the voice came from, they saw a boy, who had long, green hair, sitting on the railing that surrounded the deck. As he stared back, his blue eyes seemed to be looking past them. Worst of all, he was wearing a Team Rocket uniform.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Hazard, commander of Team Rocket's Z-Squadron," he replied calmly.

"Z-_Squadron_? Does that mean that there are more Rockets around here?" Kirby asked, while looking around.

"Well, not exactly," Hazard replied. "You see, membership has been a little down recently. So, right now, Z-Squadron actually only consists of one member: me."

"It doesn't seem like it's really a squadron, then," Kirby noted.

"Kirby, I think that there's something more important to be talking about," Aile said, indicating Mattle.

"Oh, right, sorry." He turned to the Rocket and demanded, "Let her go!" Getting only a blank stare from Hazard, he followed up with, "Yeah… I should have known that that wouldn't be enough. How about a battle, then?"

Hazard smirked and pulled out two pokéballs. "Now you're talking my language. We'll have a double battle." He threw the pokéballs, which released their inhabitants: a vaporeon and a flareon.

When they came out, they seemed somewhat disoriented. After looking around a little, the vaporeon said to its counterpart, "Va, Vapor, va va por por va va Vapor, va-vapor."

This seemed to get Espeon's attention, as she walked towards the flareon and shouted to it, "Es es pe espe Espe? Es pe pe espe es pe eon es?"

"Flare, flare flare," the flareon responded. "Flare eon flare flare, flare, on."

"Es, es es-" She was cut short by a sudden blast of water from the vaporeon. Sliding across the deck, she stopped just in front of the crowd that had started to form around them.

"Flare-ar!" the fire-type yelled to its water-type relative.

"Hey," Kirby called to Hazard, "that's not fair! I haven't even gotten another pokémon out!"

Hazard just shrugged. It's not like he had ordered the attack, anyways. His new vaporeon had just sort of done it on its own. Not that he cared that it was an unfair move. He _was_ in Team Rocket, after all.

The vaporeon was about to launch another attack when there was a shout from the crowd of, "Go, Buoy!" A pokéball came flying and opened to release a buizel. Getting between Espeon and the vaporeon, it took the water attack with minimal damage. "You don't mind if I join you, do you?" a smiling Elton asked, emerging from the crowd.

Kirby smiled, too. "Of course not."

Taking a position next to Kirby, the sailor commanded, "Buoy, use a quick attack on Vaporeon, then turn it into an aqua jet for Flareon!"

The buizel obliged, running so fast that it almost couldn't be seen. Coming into contact with the vaporeon, Buoy made it fly up into the air. While the one eevee evolution was still flying, the buizel changed directions and ran towards the other one. It started to spray water, but, because it was running so fast, the water flew behind him and created a sort of barrier. With no time to escape, the fire-type was hit by this moving shield of water and also flew into the air.

Seeing an opportunity, Kirby shouted to Espeon, "Es', use a psychic attack to keep them in the air!"

Espeon was, by this time, fully recuperated from the vaporeon's cheap shot. Looking at the two airborne pokémon, her eyes began to glow. Soon, the pokémon were surrounded by a light purple aura and ceased falling. Smiling slightly, she blasted them backwards. They landed close to Hazard, both knocked out.

He looked at them without showing any emotion and said, "Well, that didn't go too well." Then, pulling out their 'balls again, he returned them silently. Looking up, the Rocket told Kirby, "It doesn't matter, I still have the girl."

"I wouldn't be so sure," he heard Mattle say. Looking to where her voice came from, he saw her standing free. On the ground next to her was his slakoth, who had decided that now was a good time to take a nap.

Hazard sighed and recalled Slakoth. "Well," he started, standing up, "it looks like I've failed this mission. Watch out, though, because this isn't the last you've heard of Z-Squa- Whoa!" He suddenly slipped and fell off the side. Everyone ran to the side and looked over the edge. They saw him splash into the ocean and start treading water.

"Should we do something?" Kirby asked Elton.

Before he could respond, something else came into view below. It was a rowboat, which was being propelled by a girl. She had icy-blue hair and also wore a black Team Rocket uniform. She rowed towards the boy and yelled in a southern accent, "Don't worry, Hazard, I'll save you!"

"I guess Team Rocket always has an exit strategy," Kirby commented with a sigh.

"Hey, how come he's swimming away?" Aile asked.

Kirby looked back down at the scene. Sure enough, the boy was swimming in the opposite direction of the girl in the boat. She easily caught up with him, though, and pulled him into the boat. They seemed to exchange some greetings before the Rocket girl started rowing the boat away from the ship and out to sea. Everyone on the ship just watched them leave, deciding that it wasn't worth going after them.

Turning to Kirby, Elton said, "It's been awhile since Buoy and I were in a battle. It was fun, but I hope that we didn't slow you down, too much."

Kirby smiled and shook his head. "You've got one of the fastest pokémon I've ever seen, and you're wondering if _you_ slowed _me_ down? Of course not! Also, if it weren't for you, Es' probably would've gotten more injured. Thanks for that."

The sailor nodded. "You're very welcome. Hey, why don't we head inside; it looks like it's going to start raining, soon."

The trainer agreed, and they all walked into the interior of ship.

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In the middle of the ocean, two Rockets were sitting in a small rowboat. The boy looked through his blue eyes at the girl's purple ones. His eyes held a sense of fear, while hers had a feeling of affection in their gaze.

"I'm so glad I found you, Hazard, dearest," the girl said in that "southern belle" way of hers, breaking the silence. "Why, if I hadn't, you may have ended up on deep, dark ocean floor. I wouldn't be able to live, knowing that my one true love was gone." She got all misty-eyed as she thought about how horrible it would be.

"Right," Hazard started slowly, "uh, Duke, weren't you supposed to have been lost during the failed Mt. Silver expedition?"

Duke pouted. "Sugar, I told you before that you should call me by my first name and not my last."

"But everyone else-"

"You're not everyone, Sugar. You're my little Hazikens. That means that you're entitled to use my first name."

"Great… That means that I don't have to, though, right?"

She thought about it for a second. "Well, I guess so. It would really mean a lot to me if you did use it, though."

"Okay. Now then, you didn't answer my question, _Duke_."

The girl pouted some more. "Meanie… Fine, I'll tell you. I _was_ lost in Mt. Silver, but my love for you guided me to safety."

Hazard just looked at her blankly. It was at this time that the rain started to fall from the sky. Looking up, Hazard asked, "Hey, Duke, you mind getting us to shore?"

"Anything for you, Sugar!" She then picked up the ores and started rowing as fast as she could. She didn't actually know if she was heading in the direction of land. It didn't matter too much if she wasn't, though. That just meant more time with her sweet Hazard.

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In the noisy dining room, Kirby, Aile and Mattle sat with their new friend, Elton. Espeon and Buoy were sitting on the ground next to him. While the humans were having their own meal, Elton had provided the two pokémon with food. It was from a small batch of pokémon food that the ship kept on hand. Though the buizel happily ate it, Espeon left it completely untouched.

Noticing this, Elton asked, "What's the matter? Isn't your espeon hungry?"

Kirby looked down to find Espeon looking back up at him, longingly. He sighed and replied, "No, I know what the problem is." He then took a small plate and put some items from his own onto it. Placing it next to Espeon, he watched as she pleasantly started eating the food on it.

"Is that really healthy for her?" the sailor inquired, surprised by Kirby's actions.

"Who knows? Nothing bad has happened to her because of it, yet. I'm sure that she'll be fine."

"Okay… I guess you would know her best. So, anyways, how have you guys enjoyed traveling on the sea?"

Aile looked up from her meal (yet another horrific experiment in sugar) and said to Elton, "I love it! The sea is great! I was even born in the sea!"

Kirby quickly covered for her. "She means that she was, uh… born in the _middle_ of the sea. You know, on an island." He smiled nervously.

Elton, seemingly unaware of the suspiciousness of the situation, continued, "That's very interesting. So, is there any-" He stopped at a sudden shaking of the ship. Standing up he muttered, "Damn! The storm must be getting worse." Then, he told the others, "I have to get back to work. You guys should probably go back to your cabin." Getting nods from them, the sailor recalled his buizel and left.

The group, following Elton's advice, got up and headed out the dining room's door. They made their way through the hallways until they arrived at their cabin. Opening it up, they walked inside to wait out the storm.

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Outside, the rain was coming down as hard as was possible. Even so, a blonde man was standing on the observation deck. Looking out at the ocean, he was contacting his companion. To him, he said, "This storm isn't natural, is it?"

"_I'm afraid that it is, but it's a reaction to something that isn't natural."_

"Another byproduct of our human-caused situation?"

"_Indeed. They always end up destroying the things around them for their own needs. Soon, though, these will be the things that destroy them."_

"Is that what you need the girl for?"

"_What I need is to know who's on our side and who isn't. You're correct, though, the Sea Guardian seems to have retained a great deal of her power. If she would only reject her humanity, that power could be unlocked. We'll find some way to convince her…"_

"Well, I know of a pretty good way," he commented, looking at his gloved hands.

"_Violence is not the way to change a heart. She needs to come of her own will. Though, she may need a little bit of a push. I'll be the one to take care of that, however."_

The man was about to respond but stopped when a sailor came out of the ship behind him. He turned around to face him as the new man shouted over the storm, "Hey, it's not safe out here! You could get struck by lightning or something!"

The blonde man smirked. "I happen to like lightning, myself."

The sailor looked at him oddly. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning came down and struck the other man. He shielded his eyes from the light. Looking back, he saw that the man was completely unharmed. The sailor stared at him, mouth agape. "Y-you're not human," he stuttered before running back inside.

"Why, thank you," the man said, turning back to look at the choppy waters. The storm was only just beginning…

* * *

A/N: Man, that Elton swears like a sailor. Oh yeah, and review! 


	10. Shock Wave

A/N: I know it's been awile, but I tend to write less in summer because there other things I'd rather do. Hopefully the next update will be sooner. Anyways, thanks for the reviews and such. I hope to see more from whatever readership is left.

Disclaimer: Pokémon is not mine, never was, and never will be.

* * *

**Legends on Earth: Chapter Nine: Shock Wave

* * *

**

Giovanni was, once again, sitting in his office. On the screen of the videophone sitting on his desk was the image of two waterlogged Rocket agents. Hazard was looking at his boss worriedly; his green hair dripping in front of his eyes. The other agent, known as Duke, was standing a little behind him, unaware of the degree of her crush's failure. Giovanni had been surprised to see her, though he didn't show any signs of such.

"Sir, I'm sorry to report that the mission was a failure. I was unable to capture the girl like you ordered," Hazard informed him through the monitor.

"Is that your entire mission report, Hazard," the evil organization's leader said, "or is there actually a reason why you failed?"

The agent responded, "Well, there was a trainer with her, and he challenged me to a battle. The two pokémon you sent didn't follow commands, battling on their own, and they ended up being defeated."

Giovanni sighed. He should have known that those two would end up being a problem. They were just a little _too_ independent. Perhaps he should have Hazard send them back for some more "training". No, he decided, it wasn't worth it. "Very well," he finally said to his underling on the screen, "at least you didn't make things worse. You also managed to locate Agent Duke, which I must say was quite unexpected. I won't fire you, this time, but don't mess up again. Did you, at least, manage to put a tracking device on her?"

Hazard nodded in reply. His slakoth had put the undetectable GPS locator on the girl when it had grabbed her. It had certainly become a necessary precaution.

"Good," Giovanni continued, "then you'll be able to find her, again. Consider that your new mission: find the girl, keep tabs on her, and try to recapture her if and only if you have a good opportunity. Also, I'll be reassigning Agent Duke as your new partner in order to assist you."

The girl's face lit up at his last words. She would finally be partnered with Hazard, who she had loved since she first saw him. He was the reason that she joined Team Rocket in the first place. It was so that she could be closer to him.

Hazard's face, on the other hand, fell. He had been trying to avoid Duke for the last year or so. Now, she was going to be working right with him. It's not like he hated her, but her little crush on him could get annoying. "I don't think that's really needed, sir," he protested.

"Nonsense. You've been working alone for far too long. You could certainly use the help for a mission this vital. Besides, Agent Duke has been putting in applications to be transferred to your unit for some time. Now, get on it." He turned off the communications device.

Giovanni gave an annoyed sigh. It may be a cliché, but the old adage was true: good help is hard to find. Of course, running illegal operations tended to deter any respectable employees from joining. This brought up another saying: beggars can't be choosers. Not that Giovanni actually begged for anything. If he really needed someone more competent for something, he could just kidnap and/or blackmail them.

He arose from his chair. Walking around his desk, he made his way to the door out of his office. He opened it and stepped into the adjoining secretary's office/waiting room. Persia was at her desk with her head down; crossed arms separating it and the desk. Her eyes were closed, and Giovanni could tell that she was sleeping.

"Still so much like an animal," he muttered to himself. Walking over to the girl, he said calmly, "Persia." Not getting a response, he raised his voice slightly and shouted, "Persia!" There was still nothing. "PERSIA!!"

This got a reaction from the girl. Not only did she wake up, she bolted straight up into a stiff sitting position. Ignoring the faster pace of her heart for the moment, she half-yelled, "Yes, Giovanni?"

"I'm going out," he told her, returning to a calm voice.

"May I ask where? You know, in case someone is looking for you."

"I'll be visiting our little friend."

"Oh, I see," she said, understanding his implied meaning. After he had walked out into the hallway, she slumped back onto her desk. "I'm not cut out for this," she sighed.

On the other side of the door, Giovanni had begun walking down the hall. He soon arrived at the sliding doors of his personal elevator. That elevator was the only way to access this floor and required a keycard to operate. Not only did it make it harder to reach his office, but it also separated him from his underlings. He inserted his keycard into the slot, and the doors opened. Stepping into the elevator, he pressed a button labeled "B2".

"To the dungeon," he joked mildly.

The doors slid closed, and the elevator descended. An LED display of the floor number counted down, a beep accompanying each level, until reaching the basement levels. At that point, the display went from "1" to "B1" to "B2". The doors opened to reveal the almost surprisingly well-lit sublevel.

Giovanni came out of the elevator. He had just entered the area where they kept prisoners. Each room on its own was the most well secured holding facility in the world, and each was also the best furnished as far as prison cells went. The place was more like a psychiatric hospital; it kept people in while keeping them comfortable.

He walked down the hallway until he found the room that he was looking for. It was labeled "B261" and had a warning symbol on it. Giovanni inserted his cardkey into another slot, which disengaged the locking mechanism of the door. Opening the door, he headed into the room. After closing the door behind him, the locks automatically reengaged.

In the completely white room, there was a couch, a bed and a table with two chairs at opposite ends. Sitting in one of the chairs was a man in his early thirties. His dark violet hair was short like Giovanni's, but obvious attempts had been made to style it differently. His build was similar to that of the Rocket leader, but he was less muscular and therefore skinnier. In many ways he could have been the younger Giovanni, or at least a relative of his. The younger man wouldn't appreciate that analogy, though.

The sitting man only gave a little grunt to acknowledge the entrance of the Rocket leader. He did his best to return to the state of meditation he was in before, but he could hardly stay focused with the other man in the room. Finally giving a sigh and looking at Giovanni, he asked in a distasteful tone, "Do you want something?"

"I only came to check on you, Mewtwo," Giovanni replied, taking a seat across from the other man. "Or, should I call you 'Mathew'? It would certainly be more appropriate to your current form." He gave a laugh, though he kept an eye on the man across from him.

Mewtwo just continued to stare at him with the same glare that he had been doing the entire time. When Giovanni had finished laughing, Mewtwo said, "Well, if you came here only to give me a human name, then you can go now. Mission accomplished."

The older man shook his head. "No. Like I said, I'm here to check on you. They tell me that all you do every day is sit there with your eyes closed. You barely ever eat. It's not healthy. What could you possibly be thinking about while doing that?"

"All the ways that I could kill you," the former pokémon replied with a smirk. "I could do it right now. Even if they kill me for it, it would be worth it."

Giovanni gave a smirk back. "You're forgetting that you're rather weak physically. You may have been able to take me on when you had your psychic abilities, but those are trapped by that simple human mind." He pointed to his own head for emphasis.

"Maybe not as trapped as you think." Though Mewtwo had said the words out loud, they still echoed inside of Giovanni's head. It was shrugged off by the older man, though. He figured that "Mathew" was just trying to mess with him.

"Perhaps," Giovanni said, standing up, "but, nonetheless, today is not the day that you kill me." He walked to the door as Mewtwo returned to his meditation. He reinserted his cardkey into another slot, and looked one more time at the other man before stepping outside. As he walked away from the room, he smiled, thoroughly satisfied with his little visit.

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Meanwhile, miles away in the ocean between Johto and Hoenn, a single passenger ship was in the middle of an unusually large storm. Though still a good sized vessel, the _S. S. Finneon_ was a bit smaller than most other passenger ships. In a storm as rough this, there was a potential that the ship could be tossed about. If the fearless crew wasn't able to guide it through the storm, the _Finneon_ could be lost.

This was all fairly unknown to the passengers, though. All they knew was that they had to stay inside, limiting their movement throughout the ship as it would rock violently and unpredictably. It had been four days since the storm had started, and it had delayed the trip. The ship had been scheduled to reach its destination the previous day, but it was still out at sea, stuck in this storm.

While these thoughts were on the minds of Kirby, Aile, and Mattle, they were concerned more about other things. Each was thinking about something different, but each was doing it with about the same amount of worry.

For Kirby, the object of concern was Espeon. Not long after returning to their cabin four days ago, the psychic pokémon had retreated under Kirby's bed and hadn't come out since. While he had managed to get her to eat, she never left the shadow of the bed.

The trainer was now lying on his stomach on the ground while looking underneath the bed. He was once again attempting to coax Espeon out. Slowly reaching his hand out with the intention of petting her, he said softly, "Come on out, Es'. It's alright. You know I want to help you."

She apparently didn't want it though, as she backed away from his hand and went to the furthest corner of the bed. There, she lied down in a curled up position, visibly shaking. To Kirby, she called back, "Es peon."

Kirby sighed when he heard this. Though Kirby couldn't understand pokémon any more than other humans, he knew what Espeon meant by her tone of voice. He had heard her say things the same way many times before. It had mostly been when he first had her as an eevee. The tone was still the same, though, and so was the meaning: "Leave me alone."

He got up off the ground and brushed the dirt off of himself. Taking a seat next to the window, he looked out at the stormy waters sadly. He didn't like seeing Espeon like this. It reminded him of when he first found her. "I just wish that there was something I could do for her," he muttered.

"What's the matter with her anyways?" Aile asked. She was sitting on the other bed, with Mattle next to her.

"Espeon can predict the future, right? Maybe something bad is going to happen," Mattle suggested, the slightest hint of fear at the thought in her voice.

Kirby shook his head. "No. An espeon's ability to predict the future comes from it being able to read air currents. A bad storm like this would probably be throwing all sorts of crazy air currents around. She's picking up on those, making her feel all sick and stuff." He sighed again, thinking about what she must be going through.

Seeing that there was nothing they could do, the two girls returned to their own thoughts. Both had some idea of what this storm meant in the big picture. They saw it from different perspectives, though.

Mattle was concerning herself with thoughts about the cause of the exceptionally bad weather. She knew that if both she and this lugia had been changed, it was likely that others had been changed as well. Though she couldn't know how many, she did know from being a ho-oh that without certain legendaries, nature could become greatly unbalanced. She just hoped that there weren't too many natural disasters like this going on elsewhere on the planet.

Aile, on the other hand, was thinking about the effects of a storm like this. It could give some of the local pokémon a problem. Though it was true that the underwater environment was usually spared from any ill effects of a storm, this one was worse than any she had seen before. Under the right conditions it had the potential to change underwater currents and water temperature. Of course, there was one thought in the back of her head that she was trying to avoid: if this ship sank, it could end up providing a habitat for some pokémon.

Suddenly, the silver-haired girl got a chill down her spine. She wasn't sure how, but she knew something was coming. It wasn't anything good, either. Closing her eyes, she tried to concentrate on the feeling in an attempt to discern what it was. As she focused, a picture started coming into her mind. The picture grew clearer until she could see what it was. What she saw wasn't pleasant, though. It was a gigantic tidal wave heading straight for their ship.

"_You can feel it coming, can't you?"_ she heard a voice say. The voice was male; and, although it seemed familiar, she had trouble placing it. It wasn't Kirby's, but she was sure that she had heard it not that long ago. The actual identity of the person escaped her, however.

She opened her eyes, looking around the room in order to find the speaker. There was no one new in the room, though. The only other people were Kirby and Mattle, who were both lost in their own thoughts and didn't show any sign of hearing anything. Aile closed her eyes again, trying to figure out what was going on. She saw the same picture of the wave in her mind, and it had gotten closer.

"_You know it's coming."_ The same voice again. This time, however, she just listened to it. _"You're the only one that can stop it. You know what you need to do. You have the power inside you, Sea Guardian. Use it."_

The power? How could she have any power as a human? Yet, there it was: a feeling inside of her. She didn't know where it came from, but she could feel it. She also somehow knew what it was and how to use it. It was like gaining the instruction manual for a god. With her newfound powers, she knew that she could do it; she could save the ship.

Without even saying a word to her companions, she quickly stood up and walked to the door. She ignored their confused expressions and callings of her name. She had only one goal in mind. Nothing else mattered right now. She went down the hallways, Kirby and Mattle following her the whole way. Eventually, she reached the observation deck. Despite her friends' worried protests, she stepped out into the pouring rain and went to the side opposite the doorway.

Mattle and Kirby would have followed her to that position, had they not been stopped in their tracks by an unexpected and horrific sight. There, a few miles out to sea in the direction they were looking, was a giant tidal wave heading straight towards them. The massive wall of water could easily take out the ship if they collided.

Kirby shook this off and called to the silver-haired girl, "Aile, I think we better go inside, now." He took a few steps towards her but was stopped by a sudden bolt of lightning striking mere feet in front of him. The lightning caused him to jump back a little. "What the…" he muttered, looking up into the sky.

There was then laughter; a dark and humorless sort of laughter. It made both Kirby and Mattle shiver (though, most likely the rain was at least partially responsible for that). The laughter came from behind them, which was odd because they hadn't been followed onto the observation deck.

Turning around, they saw a man not in the doorway but above it. His blonde hair was sticking up a little, which seemed impossible since one would think that the pouring rain would push it and/or wet it down flat. His brown jacket and dark pants were soaking wet, but the waterproof fabric in the jacket and the heavy pants likely kept the man mostly dry. What really drew attention, though, were his piercing red eyes.

"I hope you enjoyed my little display," the man said with a little smirk. "I also hope that it made my point clear."

"What point is that?" Mattle asked. She felt something from this man but she wasn't sure what.

Instead of responding immediately, the man made one quick motion and jumped into the air. He went over Mattle and Kirby easily and landed on his feet between them and Aile. He turned around to face Kirby and Mattle again and responded, "Do not interfere with the lugia. That is my point."

"Interfere?" Kirby asked in confusion. "Is she doing something important that could be interfered with? Who are you, anyways?"

The man smirked again. He had been waiting for that last question. "I am the protector of electric pokémon, the embodiment of the speed of lightning, and one of the three legendary beasts resurrected by Ho-oh." He stopped, glaring at Mattle, and added in a tone of distain, "That's the _real_ Ho-oh," before continuing. "I am the legend of thunder: Raikou!" He created a few sparks with his hands in order to emphasize his words.

Both of them gasped when they heard this. Mattle was most surprised. Why hadn't she sensed that he was a legendary? There was that small feeling that she was getting from him, but it had been so much stronger with the young lugia. In fact, it still was; she could sense that feeling that identified Aile as a legendary even now, though it seemed slightly different. She didn't have time to investigate that right now, though.

Kirby wasn't quite as stunned as Mattle, not knowing the things going through her head, and quickly regained any composure that he had lost. Addressing Raikou, he said, "You still haven't told us why it's so important that we don't interfere with Aile. What could she possibly be doing while just standing there?"

"She," Raikou answered, "is trying to save the lives of you and all the other pathetic humans on this ship. I don't see the point, myself, but my leader wants her to do it for some reason."

"Just who is your leader? Why does he think Aile could stop a tidal wave?" Kirby asked, stepping forward. He was ready to run over to Aile, but another bolt of lightning in front of him stopped him from doing so.

"Perhaps you missed my demonstrations earlier. As you can see, I am perfectly able to control electricity despite being in this pathetically limited body. Lugia is the sea guardian. I think she could probably do something about a wave. Again, though, I don't think a boatload of humans is worth the energy, but…" He trailed off, shrugging. It was obvious that he was annoyed that the conversation was going on this long.

The young trainer was already having trouble keeping his head clear. He hadn't had a good night's sleep in almost a week, was shivering from being soaked by the rain, could still feel the static in the air from the second lightning bolt to almost hit him that night, and he could see the wave slowly coming closer. With all this already putting him in a less than desirable mental state, it was no wonder that the way the man spoke about humans caused him to release his frustration. Pulling out a pokéball, he said, "I've had just about enough of you, Rick," before throwing the spherical device.

Raikou's expression went from one of annoyance to one of anger. "You dare to brand me with a human name?" he shouted. With a small motion of his hand, he released another bolt of lightning from the sky above. This time, he was trying to hit the boy directly.

At that moment, though, the energy that came out of the pokéball finished forming into a pokémon. The lightning was forced to veer of course and instead was absorbed by the electrical sacs on Chinchou's antennae.

While the blonde man grumbled a bit about this, Kirby smiled a little. Pointing at Raikou almost theatrically, he yelled to his chinchou, "Now show him what you can do! Hit him with a thunderbolt!"

Though Chinchou seemed confused about his opponent being a human and not a pokémon, he would follow his trainer's orders. The yellow balls on the end of his antennae began to spark as he built up the electrical energy. Finally, he released the electricity in a blast directed at the man in front of him.

The electricity zigzagged along the deck towards the blonde man. The man just watched it come, not moving in the least. As the electricity reached him, he simply put up a hand and caused it to dissipate. He smirked at the surprised looks on the faces of his audience. "Do you really think that you have the power to defeat me? I am, after all, a legendary pokémon!" With that, Raikou closed the fist on his outstretched hand as the thunder in the sky rang out louder than before.

Kirby looked up at the sky nervously. Up above them, a large spot of light seemed to be forming in the clouds. "That doesn't look good…" Kirby muttered as the light continued to get larger.

The blonde laughed quietly before giving a flick of his wrist. With a loud crack, a bolt of lightning came down from the spot. It hit Chinchou's antennae, but it didn't stop striking. It just kept flowing energy into the electrical sacs. After a few moments of this, Chinchou couldn't take any more of it. With the electrical sacs full, no more energy could be absorbed. Without a place to redirect and store the electricity, it flowed into the chinchou's vulnerable watery body. Chinchou cried out in pain until the lightning stopped, at which point it fell backwards, unable to battle anymore.

"Oh no! Chinchou!" Kirby called, running to the fainted pokémon. When he got there, he crouched down and checked to make sure that Chinchou was okay before returning him to the pokéball. He got up and looked at the Raikou with a little bit of anger.

While still looking, he sighed. There wasn't any point in sending out any of his other pokémon. If one with a natural resistance was so easily defeated, he doubted that any of the others could win, and he didn't want to see them get hurt.

He wished Espeon could fight. She was his strongest pokémon and could most likely make quick work of this guy. Unfortunately, she was currently under a bed, too sick to fight, and Kirby wouldn't have made her. Thinking about it, he smiled a little. _'Maybe Mattle was right,'_ he thought to himself, _'Maybe Es' really did predict the future and see all of this coming.'_

Returning his focus to the man in front of him, he asked in a defeated tone, "So, what now?" He figured that the man would just spout more of his commander's grand plans or something. What came was something that he was not ready for.

"Now, you die!" he replied sternly and coldly, facing his palm to the sky as the light reappeared in the sky.

Kirby was completely taken aback by this. He heard Mattle gasp behind him, obviously just as surprised. He knew that Raikou didn't like humans, but he hadn't expected him to go that far. There was nothing that he could do, though. Running wouldn't exactly be enough to avoid a bolt of lightning, and an attack, either from one of his pokémon or himself, wouldn't do anything more than anger the man further. As such, he just stood there and closed his eyes, waiting to be struck down.

It never came, though. He felt Mattle run past him, so he opened his eyes to see what was going on. What he saw was yet another unexpected sight. Mattle was running towards the man, and her arms were flaming. Raikou was momentarily stunned by the sight. He obviously hadn't expected this, either. As Mattle launched the fiery attack towards the man, he came out of it and released the lightning from the clouds. His target was no longer Kirby, however; it was Mattle.

The blast of fire hit Raikou squarely in the chest. It caused him to be pushed back to the end of the deck with enough force to flip him over the railing and fall down into the stormy sea below.

At that same moment, the lightning struck Mattle. It only lasted for a fraction of a second, but when it dissipated, Mattle collapsed limply into a heap on the deck.

Kirby quickly ran over to her, worried. Checking her pulse, he found, to his relief, that she was still alive. He sighed, thankful that she was mostly okay. Luckily, Raikou hadn't had enough time to charge the lightning up to lethal level. The young trainer did cringe slightly at the sight of her arms, which were badly burned.

It was then that he remembered Aile. Looking over to the younger girl, he was shocked to see that the wave was no longer visible on the horizon. He then noticed that Aile was swaying back and forth. Realizing that she was about to fall, he got up and ran over to her as fast as he could.

Arriving just in time, Kirby managed to catch her as she fell back, and he lowered her to the ground slowly. Looking into her eyes, he could have sworn that they were glowing dark red. As they faded back to their normal sea blue color, though, Kirby figured that he was just imagining things.

These thoughts were cut short, however, when Aile started to speak. "Kirby…" she began slowly, "I'm sorry… I… I had to…" Her voice was quiet and seemed strained, but the words were still understandable to Kirby.

The boy smiled in an attempt to comfort her. "It's okay, Aile," he told her. "Everything is fine now. Don't worry." Though he was doing his best to comfort Aile, Kirby was holding back his true feelings. After all, Mattle had been pretty badly hurt, and he didn't know what was going on with Aile. The silver-haired girl certainly didn't look too good, right now.

Aile, oblivious to all of Kirby's true thoughts, just smiled back and nodded. "Everything is fine…" she repeated before closing her eyes and going limp.


End file.
